Customer Service Stories ..and other thoughts

Salmon Aren't Very Bright

2012-01-30T14:32:00.000-08:00

My thinking on this subject has refined over time since I first wrote this post, encouraging customer service to grab the brass ring and seek its seat at the strategy table, along side marketing. the main reason? I think that well-intended message has been distorted.

Just a random guess, but I'm thinking its safe to say there's been thousands of blog posts written over the past couple of years declairing customer service is the new marketing. I'm also guessing its safe to say that just about zero CMOs or other heads of marketing have since genuflected at the office doorway of their customer service bretheren in a demonstration of submission. Just a guess.

In most companies, marketing is king. Always has been. Marketing has the big budgets. Marketing creates the positioning. Marketing drives revenue (even though nobody can figure out how or why we even need to measure it).

I'm not talking about a reversion to old internally focused, product centric culture. No. Customer centricity and a superior customer experience is still the goal. Companies like Virgin, Zappos and Amazon will continue to create value through well designed customer-focused experiences. But, maybe the better way for customer service to deliver on that goal is to work in support of marketing. Allow each function to do what it does best, while learning the best parts of each others' value proposition. Customer service serves. why not serve marketing?

The role of the Chief Customer Officer has, in large part, been to bring these two functions together as equal partners. I haven't seen an example yet of that one position being effective in accomplishing such a feat. Two in a box on an org chart never works. Somebody needs to be the king of the castle.

How about the customer?

Experience Design Up In Flames

2012-01-26T18:33:00.000-08:00

I was feeling cool, special, a little bit VIPish (if thats a word).

A few months ago, I finally forked over my seventy bucks and signed up for Amazon Prime. I've been a big fan of Amazon for a long time. And I've spent a fair share of my disposable income with them, a good bit of which has been on shipping charges.

But, I admit, it wasn't until the third or fourth time I saw Mitch Joel talk about it at the SOCAP Annual conference last Fall that I took the plunge.

Then along came the Kindle Fire. I felt hosed, ordinary, a little bit outcast-ish.

Maybe I'm being a bit over the top, a bit sensitive. But, what I viewed originally as a well designed experience in my Amazon Prime membership, a membership for which I paid, was now being given away for free to those Kindle Fire buyers. I'm not one.

I'm an Apple loyalist. iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air, Airport, Apple T.V.

And because of that, I have to admit I felt a little sting. I chose my platform. I'm not buying a Fire. So, why should that fact determine my value to Amazon. I'm not the biggest spender. But, I'm guessing I've funneled more of my income to Amazon over time than many of those Christmas Day Kindle recipients.

A core principle of good customer experience design is the demonstration of respect for and consideration of the customer, first and foremost.

I'll bounce back. But, Amazon extinguished a bit of my enthusiasm with this move.

Calling All IVRs

2012-01-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Yes. All the buzz for the past couple of years in customer service has been focused on social. And by that, many are still defining social customer service as answering inquiries on Facebook and Twitter, but that's a topic for an upcoming post.

The point here is that the dominant channel of both service demand and supply is still voice. But, while it seems like this channel is ripe for vast improvements in the customer experience and in efficiency, efforts to improve it have seem to become passe. So, I'm declaring my self Mr Boring in a quest to solve this phenomenon.

I spent last year responding to any and all customer surveys that came my way. I wanted to see what companies really did with my feedback. And by in large, the answer was nothing much. At least from the customer's line of sight.

So now this year I'm on to IVRs and voice response self service. I'm still really bullish on the potential of this technology. So I want to call a bunch and peek under the hood. But I need your help.

If you have examples of companies that you think provide a really awesome (or really poor) voice response self service, can you do me a favor and shoot me the name of the company down in the comments? In return, I'll come back with hopefully some interesting, actionable findings.

Happy dialing!

Marathons Are Way Harder Than The 40 Yard Dash

2011-12-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

I have been missing this trusty platform. I haven't been here in a month. It's not that I've been hold out in my basement playing Call of Duty eighteen hours a day. I've been doing what I think is some good work. Hopefully, somebody else thinks so too. (Santa - if my boss reads just one blog post from me, ever, can you see that its this one?)

But, that got me thinking about responsibility. Responsibility to all the people that have come to count on you. For each of us, that list will be different.  So, I won't bore you with my list. Except of course to say, that everyone that has ever read these musings I consider part of my responsibility to serve. And this year, I don't think I've delivered the same level of service, the same level of commitment to you at this address as in prior years.

Business, life, customer relationships. They all grow more and more complex every day. That's undeniable. For companies that continue to grow and add customers, your challenge to service those customers like you did when you were first starting out is exponentially more complex. So, as we hear more about the customer service bar being continually raised; about customers not being satisfied with what made them happy yesterday, I wonder if its not that at all.

I wonder if, maybe, just maybe, what we think is raising the bar is just a request to get back to what we used to do when we first started doing business with that customer. Have we gotten complacent? Did we fire out of the gate and then burn out?

I'm a huge Seth Godin fan. And through much of his writing, he encourages more people to just start something. And I agree. But the infinitely more difficult thing to do is to do that thing you started over and over again, week after week, year after year, for a life time.

The biggest lesson I've learned about customer service (and most other things in life) is you have to, in the words of another rock star Tony Horton, keep showing up, keep pressing "play".

So, when you're faced with that customer that seems to be complaining more, negotiating harder and generally not being as enthusiastic any more about what you're brining to the table, perhaps a little visit from the ghost of relationships past might give you pause and a sense of recommitment to living up to those original expectations.

I thank you all for experiencing this ride with me over the past three years. Keep showing up. Keep clicking here.  And I promise I will do the same.

Peace

We Have Received Your Customer Service Question

2011-11-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

...But we're not going to answer it.

Actually, I'm pretty sure they didn't even read it.

Via a website form, I sent the following email to my local company that supports those auto toll tags:

"I have misplaced my tag so I don't have the tag number or account number. I need to cancel this account and create a new one"

In reply, I got back:

"To help access your account, please check your EZ-Pass device for the issuing agency's name and telephone number. Please resubmit your request to that agency via website or telephone. BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR DEVICE NUMBER OR AN ACCOUNT NUMBER"

...thud (my head hitting the desk)

Don't Trick Your Customers With Self Service

2011-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of self service. Like I haven't said that a thousand times. But, it's worth repeating. Give me the power. Give me control. And, then get out of my way. Sure, I might call you on occasion. But don't make me call you because your self service stinks. And in some cases, I actually prefer the human touch. The point is that I want to decide. I want the choice.

That being said. I am not John Q. Public (thank God for the public at large). I am unique. I'm an individual. So, when you're creating your customer engagement and channel strategy, make decisions for the right reasons, not because its easier or cheaper for you to stand up an IVR. Do it because some segment of your customers want it. And, certainly don't take a page from banks who forced customers to use ATMs in the early days - a channel that was far inferior to the branch teller back then.

When I was trick or treating with my kids on Halloween, it hit me that many of my neighbors have in fact followed down that misguided path.

The richness of trick or treating extends beyond just collecting candy. If that was the extent of it, I could go to Target on November 1st and get my kids all the candy they could stomach, and then some. No, the experience is made whole by going door to door, ringing the bell, seeing the door open and yelling proudly "Trick or Treat!"

As the deliverer of the candy, there is joy in that experience as well. Seeing what creative ghouls and gobblins, princesses and pirates show up on the door step. That's trick or treating. The value of that experience seems to be lost on a growing population.

More and more of my neighbors are deciding to either not be home or to not answer their door; replacing that with the self service bowl of candy on the front door step. The whole point of the night seems to be lost on these folks. Its not just about the candy. Its about the mutual experience. Forcing the kids to self serve robs them of the experience that makes the night so much fun.

Call it what you want. Customer intimacy, customer relationship management, customer centricity. Whatever. Just do us all a favor. Spend the time upfront understanding your customers. Thoroughly understand the impact your channel mix has on your customers' experience. And treat them to the experience they desire, via the channels they prefer. No tricks.

The Customer Dating Game

2011-10-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

I'll assume that nobody so hip and cool under the age of 30 reads these musings of mine (not to suggest if you are reading this, you're old and geeky). So I'm guessing that the first thing that popped into your head upon clicking through here was the Dating Game theme song. Come on. Lets all take a second and hum along.

Ok now that we got that out of the way, where is this going? I got to thinking the other day about how many customer-brand relationship challenges might be eliminated if brands where a bit more selective in choosing the customers with whom they do business. This is especially true in the B to B services world in which I happen to live.

Seth Godin talks about the end of mass in his latest book. This concept, in my mind, really harkens back to the earliest days of commerce. A day when local merchants served a local clientele, among whom they lived, played and worked. Yes, with the web, very targeted commerce can occur today at a grander scale and reach that targeted audience across a wider geography. But that is not the equivalent of trying to sell everything to everyone.

I think Neil Warren of eHarmony is onto something. Former eHarmony CEO Greg Waldorf summed up the company's approach to creating matches. He said "It's not about matching people who like certain hobbies...it's about compatibility. You go on the site and tell us about you, rather than about what you want."

What if you took that approach the next time you're courting your next customer. In general, business has done a good job of moving from "what can I sell you?" to "what do you want to buy?" It's pretty evident though that this doesn't go far enough.

The next time a prospect waves some bucks your way, spend the time to really understand, not what they want, but what they are about; what really makes them tick. And if that doesn't jive with what's in your core, better off to say "I can't help you".

I'm guessing your customer relationship will be a lot more harmonious in the long term.

Exceptional Customer Service Never Gets Old

2011-10-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ho hum. Yes. I'm going to write about Zappos again. But wait! Before you click away. You gotta hear this. I'm telling you. I can't make this stuff up!

My colleague conveyed this experience.

She ordered a pair of rain boots from Zappos recently. And, with all she'd heard about Zappos' legendary service, after nine days, she was a bit miffed as to why her boots had not arrived at her home.  So, she sent them an email. Nothing nasty. Just "hey Zapppos. 9 days and no boots. What gives?"

Soon after, she received an email from PayPal saying that her money was being refunded by Zappos. Well, ok.  That was all well and good. But, she actually still wanted the boots. And she thought this meant that Zappos was cancelling her order and issuing a refund.

Following that email, though, she received a note from Zappos saying "...So sorry for the inconvenince. We refunded your $149. Your boots are on the way. Keep them." Or something to that affect.

Seriously!?!

And so, how did Zappos make the determination to issue a refund and still ship the product? Was it based on some sophisticated CLTV model? Maybe. But, I doubt it. Since this is the first time my colleague had ever ordered from Zappos. Unless of course you can tell that much about someone from the fact that they would pay $149 for rain boots.

Could it be some algorithm that predicts future purchases from such a refund policy? Perhaps.

I'm thinking its more likely that someone, not Tony Hsieh, but someone on the front lines in customer service decided it was the right thing to do; was empowered and just did it.

The lesson here? White glove customer service for everyone, at any cost is not sustainable business...if you combine that with other decisions that erode financial margins.  But, when was the last time you saw the word "SALE" flashing on Zappos home page?  When was the last time Apple ran a 50% discount offer on iMacs?

So, when folks talk about consumers willingness to pay extra for exceptional service, I'd argue that all that they are willing to pay is fair value for the service and experience delivered. Zappos delivers exceptional service. And for that, they make no appologies about selling a pair of rain boots for $149.

A Bit Off Target - A Twisted Customer Service Tale

2011-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

I love Target. I had to state that right out of the gate. Because, its the ones we care about the most that we should be most interested in helping to improve. And, that's the context in which I relate this little diddy.

Driving home from some random errand on my honey-do list last weekend with my son, he wanted to stop at Target for lunch. (please hold the critique on the dietary choices I allow my kids to make). Target has a lunch counter that serves pizza and other such delights.

We made our selections. And as the cashier began to ring it up, my son spotted a golden ticket! Another child, who's parent was clearly as health conscious as I, was drinking from a twisty straw. A TWISTY STRAW! Everyone knows sugary drinks taste a thousand times better through a twisty straw!

So, with the cash register reading $13.85, I asked for a twisty straw (two, if you must know). But, here's the kicker. I was told that you can only get a twisty straw with a kid's meal. Curious. I inquired again. I got the same answer. So, I looked up at the kids menu choices. The most expensive item on the kids menu was less than half of what was currently on the register. Soooo....I alerted my customer service cousin to that fact. And, the response was: "I know it doesn't make sense. But thats the program".

So, I ordered a kid's item, pulled a five spot out of my wallet and got change along with my twisty straw (only one).

I slumped into my chair and as my son reveled in the joy of his roller coaster drink experience, I pondered.

How off target was this experience? Nine dollars lost in revenue. A befuddled customer. And a policy that was followed to the letter.

Twisted.

Customer Data and Pork Bellies

2011-09-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

The law of supply and demand. You've heard of it. You may have studied it. Any of you that are economists (real ones. not just those like me that have it on their resumes under "education") know a heck of a lot more about it than me.

With my elementary understanding of the subject, I got to wondering the other day about the economic value of customer data; voice of the customer, customer insights, whatever label you give it.

Has customer data become a commodity? Have we hit a point of dimimishing returns? (pulling out all my econometric knowledge now) How does your organization determine the investments it makes to acquire, store, manage, analyze and take action on customer data?

Customer data is overabundant. And, with the explosion of the social web, It's easier than ever to access. And, yes, companies can't seem to get enough of the stuff. But, as fast as demand grows, supply is growing at an exponential rate relative to demand. Just look at Twitter alone. As of May of this year, Twitter was generating over 35Mb of data per second. Do the math. That's 2 gigabytes per minute; 3 terabytes a day.

The struggle I'm having is understanding what is driving the demand. Since the time I could spell Cobol, there's been this adage that says "Most corporations are data rich yet information poor". Catchy, right? So, if this is to be believed, shouldn't the focus be on doing more with the data an organization already has? Of course, if its crap, then, by all means, get different data. But, I'm not sure you need more of the same.

Do more with less. Isn't that what the new economic reality dictates? Maybe its something to consider when it comes to customer data.

Customer Intimacy Doesn't Scale

2011-09-06T04:48:00.000-07:00

After twenty five plus years of CRM, is there any other possible conclusion to be reached? And for that matter, as Esteban Kolsky challenged me last week when I tweeted this statement, does customer intimacy even exist? Or should it?

Now don't get me wrong, we see all around us countless examples of great customer experience (and no, I'm not talking about this). My friend Stan Phelps is on a wonderful mission to find random acts of marketing and customer service lagniappe. And he's found plenty.

But none of that has anything to do with intimacy. Nowhere in the definition is the mention of the word "customer". And my point is further exemplified when you compare these descriptions of intimacy with the watered-down, tepid description of customer intimacy here.

Asking Esteban's indulgence for a moment here, lets assume it actually does exist. It exists at my corner antique book store. It does not exist on Amazon (sorry Amazon. I dig you. But its true). It exists at my local hardware and feed supply store (yes, I live in a place where feed supplies are still in demand). It does not exist at Lowes. And it exists at my favorite bakery where the owner knows the personal details of every occasion for which I've ordered one of their totally decadent chocolate three layer cakes. At the bakery counter of Wegmans? Not so much.

Think about it. I chose to call out these big companies intentionally. They happen to be some of my favorite companies with which to do business. And, all of them deliver a pretty darn good customer experience.

But, are we intimate? It's just not possible. Intimacy doesn't scale.

"I Don't Give A Damn....

2011-08-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

What you think you are entitled to!"

I was on vacation last week. An amazing vaction on the new Disney Dream cruiseliner. I am truly living a charmed life. And I say that not to be pompus or a braggart. I say this because I pinch myself everyday when I think about my life, my work and all the experiences I have had.

Have I worked hard? Sure. Harder than some. Not nearly as hard as some others. Sometimes, not as smartly as I could have. Have I gotten some breaks (or I'd like to think, created them)? Sure. More than some, less than others.

I don't own yachts or real estate holdings and will probably work until the day they close the lid on the casket to give my kids a leg up I never had. I look in the mirror and I see a regular Joe. I am grateful for everything in my life. Yet, I have high expectations.

But on this vacation, in observing some customers' behavior, I started wondering when expecations morph into entitlement. It's interesting that the Wikipedia entry for entitlement links to the defininition of narcissism.

Entitlement is defined as "a guarantee of access to benefits". When I hear we live in a culture of entitlement, I'm not so sure that the definition is fair. And from my vacation observations, I'm grappling with what drives people of what most would consider an economically priviledged population to develop a sense of entitlement.

On a ship where every staff member bent over backwards, sideways and upside down to accomodate each guest's every whim, for some, nothing was good enough.

Because I've been thinking a lot lately about the psychology of consumers, my attempt at analyzing the root drivers of this behavior settled along two dimensions. It may be wrong-headed or unfair. But I wonder who has a greater sense of entitlement? Or at least, who is more prone to develop one? Those that came from priviledge and always had? Or, those that came from nothing and now find themselves, not Bill Gates kind of wealthy, but with a few bucks (and probably as many maxed-out credit cards) in their pocket? Or maybe a narcissist is a narcissist, rich or poor.

Can anyone set me straight?

Honesty Really Is The Best Policy

2011-08-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I realized I hadn't actually written about any customer service stories here in quite some time. A lot of "other thoughts". But no good stories. I got a good one.

As preface, I wrote a post a while back about one of my favorite subjects. Maybe not favorite, but one of those feel good tag lines that makes my head explode. "The customer is aways right". Without going into a rant about why that drives me nuts, because that's not the point of this post, let me just ask you this. If your spouse, boss, friends, relatives, (fill in the blank) were always viewed as "right" regardless of their behavior, how would that make you feel? Enough said.

Back to the story.

I first became aware of my friend and colleague's panache for dropping his iPhone from a Facebook update he threw up a couple of weeks ago. We traded comments where I learned he's not only dropped his phone about a thousand times, but he's not eligible for an upgrade for a while. And with the new iPhone 5 coming out, it was just poor timing for the touch screen to finally throw up the white flag.

Oh yea, he showed me the screen. It was not pretty. And did I happen to mention that this guy is the biggest raving Apple fan I've ever met? To the core! Perhaps that information might have been helpful to guy at the first Apple Store my friend entered who told him to cough up $200 for a new phone.

Never one to accept the first answer he gets on any topic, my friend went to store number two. He told the Apple rep the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He's a klutz. He drops his phone all the time. And, he understands the product can only take so much abuse before crapping out.

For his honesty, the Apple rep thanked him for not trying to snow him and gave him a new phone on the spot - free.

So, there really are two morals to this story.

First, as I wrote this, it occured to me that Apple might need to keep a bit closer eye on its brick and mortar stores. I'm a huge fan. But, I've heard now a couple of stories of inconsistent customer experiences. Designing a multi-channel experience is one thing. Consistently delivering that experience, especially when you throw the store front thing into the mix, requires diligent attention, monitoring and tweeking.

Second, if you expect to always be right as a customer. How about always being a stand up individual as well? You get what you give. My table neighbors at Applebees could stand to learn this lesson.

The Consistency of Inconsistency

2011-07-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

A thought occurred to me as I was doing some research today. Why is it so hard to do something consistently over a long period of time? Then I had a second thought. Hey, I have a blog. I'll throw this chum out to all of you and see who bites.

So, the first question came from research I was doing on Trip Advisor about a hotel I'm staying at this weekend. Overall the customer reviews of the property were good. 49% rated it "very good" or better; where 26% rated it "poor" or worse. And for a budget "motel" style property, I thought that was respectable. So, after reading all the positive reviews, I click over to the "terrible" comments.

Of the 8 comments left between 2007 and 2010, exactly one had a response from the property General Manager; the most recent. So, then I started trying to analyze the pattern of timing and dates around the complaints. They did seem to be clustered by complaint type and date. But, the point is, I shouldn't have had to think that hard in order to determine the value of those comments in making my decision.

While it's admirable that the GM responded to one customer, he left 7 others, and everyone like me who read them, dangling out there, open to assume the most wildest of scenarios. Even if management or in fact ownership of the property had changed hands, there was an opportunity to go back to these other comments and offer the Trip Advisor visitor some sort of explanation; to tell the other side of the story.

So, whether its Twitter, Facebook, your blog, your church, local community organization or your customers (oh yea...or your marriage!), relationships take a dedication and commitment to consistent engagement; consistent nurturing, care and feeding. No, not because if you don't, your Klout score will drop. But, because consistency is the only real path to success in anything.

Baseball and The Customer Experience

2011-07-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

First, let me state that I possess none of the talent of Frank Difford, George Will or Ken Burns when it comes to waxing about America's favorite past time. But, despite rumors about it being suplanted by the NFL, baseball still is America's game; its favorite past time.

So, what does this have to do with customer experience? In his book Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi talks about our migration from the Information Age to the Relationship Age. Trust and conversation are crucial in this new economy. I'll say it a slightly different way. Its the experience age, driving an experience economy.

It hit me while watching the MLB All Star Game. The pace of baseball creates the foundation for conversation and emotional connection that are at the heart of engagement. At one point during the t.v. broadcast, the cameras found Steve Bell sitting on the wall chatting with a couple of young fans in between innings. He had a bag of goodies he gave out including signed balls and baseball cards. I thought "there is no other sport where you would ever see that happen". Why? Because the pace at which other sports play just doesn't permit it.

I see it when I take my son to ball games. He hangs out by the dug out in between innings with his glove. Players trotting or walking off the field look up and make eye contact with young fans, shake hands, toss warm up balls to wide-eyed little leaguers. They make a connection. They engage. And those are the kind of experiences that create life-long relationships and indeed love affairs with baseball.

So if there's one key lesson that baseball can teach about engagement and relationships that all businesses should heed, it is this. Slow it down.

A Wake Up Call

2011-06-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

So, you think you know about loyalty? You've broken the bindings of some of the landmark books on the subject. You've memorized, and can recite to any senior executive in your organization, the statistics. A 5% improvement in customer retention rates will yield between 25 and 100% increase in profits.

Well, I'm here to tell you. You don't know jack. Randi, actually. You see Randi is my eight year old Golden Retriever. And last night, I messed up pretty badly. As a result, I got a sobering lesson in what loyalty really means. However sublime in its outward expression, loyalty should never be taken for granted. And only when tested, will its true value be understood.

I got home late with the family. The kids were asleep in the car. So, my focus was on getting them to bed. Upon entering the house, my three dogs - two Goldens and a Chihuahua who is new to the brood by about two weeks - ran past me out the door to do their thing. After settling the kids, I let the dogs back in and went to bed.

When I awoke this morning to let the dogs out, I was one short. I opened the garage door and in came Randi running towards me from outside. Apparently, in the confusion last night, I didn't make sure she was in the house. Rather than abandoning me or going out into the neighborhood to see what else was around, she dug herself a bed in my garden and waited right outside the door for me to find her. She greeted me with a prolonged tail-wagging, dancing, barking "hello". In her way, she was telling me "I knew you'd come for me. I knew you wouldn't forget about me. And, its o.k. I know you have a lot going on. I'll always be here for you"

So, the next time the economy turns down and you turn your focus internally to cost cutting instead of paying attention to your customers, remember that it's those customers that are silently waiting for you to come back; patiently anticipating your acknowledgement that are the real reason you exist as a business.

What's Next For Customer Service?

2011-06-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Forgive the hyperbole, but the social customer really is driving customer service as we’ve come to know it to the precipice of irrelevancy.

Back in April, I wrote a post that referenced a recently released study from IBM recently titled From Social Media to Social CRM wherein they reached a harsh conclusion.

Customers, your customers, would much rather seek information and advice from friends, family and even strangers that look “like me” than from brands. And by “brands”, that includes customer service functions that support those brands. Most alarming is the disconnect between what customers actually care about and what companies think customers care about in terms of brand engagement. More than half of all customers surveyed, for example, don’t even consider engaging with companies on social sites. For them, social networking is about personal connections.

Given that scenario, I’d argue that the real value of the future customer service function is in its ability to impact, at the enterprise level, those issues that cause customers to engage customer service in the first place. The contact center as data hub is an interesting concept. And one which typically conjures up thoughts associated with CRM and how to use that data to better engage with customers. I happen to think the real untapped value lies in how that data is used to drive sustainable change in the enterprise business processes that are at the root of customer satisfaction, or dissatisfaction as it were.

There really is a treasure trove of insight contained in the contacts that occur daily between your customers and the contact center. Customers talk about all sorts of things. In reality, it is a rare person that calls customer service to tell you how much they loved the look of their new utility bill; or how great it was that their new Professor Dumbldore bobble head doll arrived crushed in a box the size of a postage stamp. No. Customers call the contact center, by and large, because some process in your organization broke down; somebody messed up.

Bill Price, the former head of customer service at Amazon, outlined his approach to this challenge in his book The Best Service is No Service. In it, Bill argued that the first thing the contact center-as-data-hub should focus on is eliminating what he calls “dumb contacts”. Those are the contacts that are driven by some upstream process that is broken in the organization. Take your contact center personnel (all those black belts) armed with statistical data and go fix those things. Billing errors, product defects, shipping delays, stock outs, back orders, the list goes on. Empower your customer service professionals to step outside the contact center and drive process change, not just deliver call reason code reports. Eliminating the demand for service driven by these internal process flaws, as Bill successfully argues, will allow the customer service function to then focus on high value interactions.

The data contained in those contacts provide a crystal clear lens in to all that is good and not so good within your organization. It demonstrates an undeniable truth. That truth is that every function in an organization is responsible for the customer experience. Customer service is not the new marketing. However, marketing, sales, finance, HR, manufacturing, purchasing, name the department, ultimately should have responsibility for customer service and the customer experience. Customer touch points happen in places within your organization that are often not immediately apparent. It takes some effort to identify these touch points and uncover how they actually impact the customer experience.

Who’s going to do that? Acme Company VP of Customer Service, come on down. You’re the next contestant on The Time Is Right.

So Much More than Meets The Eye

2011-05-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Alright I admit it. I'm jazzed up. So, I'll try to curb my enthusiasm and stick to the facts. And the fact is that Zappos is so much more than "WOW!"

I had the opportunity to make the trip to the Mecca of customer service last week while at the SOCAP conference in Las Vegas. And so, have you ever been in a situation where you're not really looking for something, or looking for one thing and, from out of nowhere... BAM!...something completely unexpected smacks you in the side of the head? That's what happened to me during my tour with the freakishly enthusiastic folks from Zappos Insights (trust me. they'd take that as a complement; as it's intended)

Leading up to, and as I embarked on my sojourn through 2280 Corporate Circle, Suite 100, having worn out the binding of my copy of Delivering Happiness, I was fully expecting to witness all the overt signs upon which the now-legendary Zappos culture has been built. What I walked away with is something completely different.

Pay attention now because here's the nugget. Zappos' culture and customer experience mastery is made possible by a bunch of wicked smart, savvy people that have developed a brilliant business model from the ground up. Let's face it. You don't sell over a billion dollars annually and get Amazon to pay you $1.2 billion dollars for your company by giving away the store and losing money. In contrast to Borders, the book retailing giant that, while apparently earning a stellar reputation for customer service, filed for bankruptcy last year, the leadership at Zappos understand that delivering happiness has a cost.

So what do you do? You have just as sharp a laser focus on such things as finance, logistics and merchandizing as you do on culture and customer experience. You do things like build your distribution center right next door to the UPS hub in Kentucky to, not only deliver anywhere in the USA within 3-5 business days, but to do that so cost effectively to be able to offer free shipping both ways. And, presto - exceeding the customers expectations.

Oh and do this. Go to Zappos.com and see how many pages you have to click through to see the word "SALE" flashing in your face in big bold letters. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Zappos doesn't sell cheap stuff. Well they do, but not under the Zappos brand. That's way too valuable an asset to dilute like that. They reserve that stuff for a separate brand - 6pm.com

And, looking closer, you realize they understand that its not just customer service, sales and marketing that impact the customer experience. Every single function in the organization is built from the ground up and viewed as a customer touch point.

So the next time you see a tweet about their customer service, or you place an order on their site, know there's more to the Zappos legend than meets the eye. Everyone from these folks to this guy makes sure of that everyday.

L(ove). L(ove). Bean

2011-04-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this story.

So, we've all heard the urban legend of L. L. Bean's otherworldly customer service, the channel integration, the brand engagement. Well, I think I can safely say I've seen the Uncorn. This is so cool.

A bit of background:

My friends recently decided to take up hiking the Appalachian Trail as a hobby. I could probably think of about 3 dozen more leisurely activities to pick up as a "hobby". But awesome for them!

So, about sixty or seventy miles into their latest trek last week, they were strolling within a few miles of my house and asked to camp for the night for a hot meal and a shower. So, after devouring half the food in the house and getting cleaned up, we all sat down with a bottle of wine to hear some stories.

My friend proceeds to tell me that at a campground, he and a fellow hiker got their Bean Boot laces crossed, whereby the stranger ended up accidentally putting my friends boots into his backpack and hauling off down the trail. My friend, upon later putting his fellow long-departed sojorner's size 14 boots on his size 9 foot realized the mix up.

He called L.L. Bean from the trail (in our connected world were noplace is "out of range") and told them of his dilemma. The Bean rep told him that he would FedEx a new pair of boots in the right size to my address for next day delivery. In return, they asked him to send the old boots back to them when he got back home.

Oh, did I mention that they treated this like an exchange? Like....he didn't have to buy the new pair of boots. And get this. The boots they were sending him cost thirty bucks less than the old ratty size 14s he had in his sack. So, Bean sent him a gift card for the thirty bucks! I couldn't make this stuff up!

We finish the wine (and one or two more bottles, I think), went to sleep. And sure enough, around ten am the next day, the FedEx guy delivered a brand new pair of warm, dry Bean Boots to my door.

So, do you think my friend will buy his next ten pair of boots, and all his other outdoor, Daniel Boone, trail-blazing gear from L.L. Bean for the rest of his hiking days?

I'd say: roger that Wilco!

Happy weekend everyone. Talk to you next week from Las Vegas and the SOCAP Spring Symposium.

Where Was Customer Service?

2011-04-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Two weeks removed from Radian6 first ever user's conference in Boston - Social 2011 - and I'm still digesting, pondering, analyzing, processing, reflecting (and grinning). And the one question that keeps rising to the surface is this. Where were all the customer service people?

Don't get me wrong. I was ecstatic when I saw Marjorie Bynum from SOCAP. As a respected industry leader, her presence made a statement. And there were some other familiar faces, including you amazing folks with whom I had the pleasure to participate with on our panel discussion. So, while I don't have any official data on attendees' job titles. I did ask the question during our panel. And about five percent of the audience raised their hands self-identifying as being in customer service functions.

So, what's my point? SOCAP and other customer service oriented associations have been pushing social CRM content and focusing a larger portion of conference time over the past two years on social media's impact to customer service. To a person, everyone I've met at these events in this time frame has been trying to get on top of service delivery models, operational impacts, engagement guidelines and customer services' role in the corporate social business strategy. So, it just struck me as a bit curious that, at Social 2011, which I viewed as more than a social media monitoring vendor's user conference, I wouldn't have seen a bigger representation.

Of course, as a percentage of Radian6 client base, customer service is still relatively small. And, clearly not every company on the planet is a Radian6 customer. But, based on the content, the lineup of speakers, the attendance from many of the brightest minds in the social CRM space, and the announcement of the Salesforce.com acquisition the week before, I would have seen this as an opportunity to suck that all up in order to launch my customer service organization forward. A pilgrimage destination, if you'll allow me a bit of hyperbole.

I'm not going to try to evaluate what this means. But, I've been preaching for a while that customer service needs to grab the brass ring of social CRM in their organizations and stake a claim to the value of the function within the social enterprise. Showings of force at events like these, while costly and time consuming, in part, demonstrates that this is in fact happening.

There are, of course, other customer service and social CRM events this year, including SOCAP's starting in two weeks in Las Vegas. So, as to not be accused of making hasty statements and drawing false conclusions based on this one data point, I guess I'll just have to make my way to as many remaining events this year as possible.

I know. I know. Its a huge sacrifice. But, for the cause, I'll suffer through it. Just for you.

As a post script, I just want to thank again the folks at Radian6 for allowing me the opportunity to present at the conference. I feel very honored to have had such an opportunity. And, it allowed me the opportunity to meet in person more of the amazing social CRM thought leaders I've come to respect over the past several years.

Have We Gotten It All Wrong?

2011-04-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past several weeks, I've been doing research on, thinking about and gathering client examples about brand engagement.

In preparation for participating in a panel discussion at this week's Radian6 Social 2011 conference on High Performance Participation Brands, my objective was to share some big old nuggets from my personal observations; leaving what will no doubt be a rivited audience totally pumped up and ready to elope with their collective social customer.

Then I read this. Paul Greenberg wrote a guest post on briansolis.com that probably gave, or at lease should have given us all pause. Paul referenced a recent IBM Global Consulting study about the current mood of customers towards brands with respect to engagement.

You can read all the stats at your leisure. But after reading Paul's post and then clicking through to the details, I had to wonder aloud. Has the message been distorted? Has the pressure to engage simply reincarnated old habits in a new form? It's an established mantra that customers no longer have a tolerance for the "shouting through the bullhorn" brand messaging. But, has that been replaced in some playbooks by a "chase me around the social web to try to get me to engage with you" approach?

The lesson I'm taking from this latest dose of reality? There is no shortcut. No easy path to customer engagement. Its not about having a fan page or a celebrity persona on twitter. Customers don't owe your brand their time simply because you've put it out there. IBM exposed a fact that probably
everyone knows but about which there may be some serious denial at work. Customers would rather talk to their friends and trusted associates about your brand than to you.

Take solice though. There is in fact a secret sauce. Well, it's not so secret if I figured it out. The key to getting your customers to engage with your brand? Give them such a compelling reason to do so, that to not would be down right silly. People buy the entire brand. Not just the product. Not just the service. The whole enchilada. The brand value is the sum total of all of its parts. Maybe that's why, when you look at what are considered the "most engaged brands", the list is pretty short. Further, look at these logos and honestly tell me that the reason these brands earned this distinction is because of their twitter presence.

The fact that these brands have build such equity is what provides them the social currency to be engaged. And that is actually the point. These brands aren't engaging. They are engaged. Engaged by their customers. That's not just hair-splitting. Customers are making the choice. They're calling the shots. They're deciding with whom they engage. (hey, IBM confirmed it. So, it must be true). So to Mr. Greenberg's definition of Social CRM: "the company's response to the customer's control of the conversation", responding to customers who run the other way by chasing after them is most definitely not the way to win friends and influence the social customer.

By the way. This is probably a good time to remind everyone that I'm a technology guy. I'm clearly no marketing genius. But, I am a consumer; a customer. So, from my catbird seat, the way I see it is this. I will give you my time if the value you give me in return exceeds my investment. Give me that and I'll come find you. I might even propose. Trust me.

What Are You Missing?

2011-03-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I deviate from the topic at hand on this blog. And, this is one of those times. So, hopefully you'll take a few seconds and hang while I ponder this....

I've been conspicuously absent from twitterville over the past several weeks. Or, at least I thought I was. Then I got to thinking. Hey, the conversation is diminishing. The @ mentions and DMs are coming fewer and farther between. Then I went through what I'm guessing is a type of withdrawal.

First came fear. Fear that the connections are fragile. That the conversations are fleeding at best. That out of sight really is out of mind.

Then, I starting thinking about the connections I've made that have flowed from twitter outside, all the way to face to face connections with amazing folks from whom I've learned so much. Made real connections. Created real value.

Then, came the realization that this twitter thing is actually a lot of work. It requires an incredible investment in energy, effort, time and personal commitment in order to realize value in return. What did I really want from this relationship?

Was it that the time I was spending was just filling a void? Or was it distracting me from some other purpose? Was there other work that could create greater value? What did I want out of my investment? After all, it is my investment. I don't let others manage my dough (what little there is). I'm in control. So, why should I treat twitter any differently?

As of late, the work, I mean the real work, the stuff that gets me jazzed up every morning, has been so incredibly challenging, captivating and rewarding, I've come to a place where maybe many of you already have past on your journey. Will I still be on twitter? Of course. But in the endorphin game, I've found a new high.

If you stopped tweeting for two weeks, what would fill that void? Would you be missed? What do you think you'd be missing?

Customer Service At Any Cost?

2011-03-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

I've written on this topic a few times. And those posts have elicited their share of visceral reactions from my colleagues in customer service circles. But as much as I'm an advocate of the customer experience, I'm also a pragmatist and someone who believes that business decisions that don't make financial sense don't typically forecast a long and prosperous lifespan for any company. Call me crazy.

So, two stories this week made me revisit this topic. Not to prove my point, but to hopefully continue the conversation.

Firstly, when I heard Borders Books declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few weeks back, it didn't register as that surprising to me. In my mind, it was just another victim of a literary industry that had failed to reinvent itself in the face of radical upheaval. But then I caught a couple of tweets this past week pondering why this venerable customer service all star could have fallen so hard. In reality, I have no idea why. Actually, I had no idea Borders even had such a customer service reputation. I haven't stepped into a book store for several years. But I can suppose. And, to the title of this post, I'm supposing that whatever the service experience that was being delivered was quite possibly out of alignment with the current economics of this particular industry. Just guessing here if this was the case with Borders. But, you can have the greatest return policy and allow your customers to lounge in your brick and mortar store until closing time. But, if fewer and fewer of those customers are walking through the door, and even less are ringing the register, no level of white glove service is going to matter.

In a more personal experience, I was witness to a scene on Friday night that made me ponder a presumption I've challenged in the past; the presumption that the customer is always right. I'm not expecting a warm a fuzzy reception to these comments. But, I was at my local Applebee's Restaurant with my family. And for those with whom I'm friends on Facebook know, I'm there more often than in my own kitchen. During dinner, I was eyewitness to a group completely take advantage of the restaurant and their server; complaining to the manager about the server to receive a discount on their tab, then afterwards laughing about it, with one saying to the others "I do this all the time. I told you it would work. You just need to know what places to go to."

Is the above perhaps an extreme example? I don't think so. In my business, my clients are constantly challenged with consumers attempting to extract coupons or free product by filing false complaints. These consumers, much like the group in Applebees I assume, know that many companies believe its generally better for business to send a coupon or write off a twenty dollar tab than, especially in a world with twitter at the ready, it is to suffer the wrath of a brand attack that could go viral.

So, is the customer always right? If you provide an exceptional customer experience, does that justify the financial house of cards required to support that white glove touch? Should every customer be treated like a V.I.P.? On that last one, I'll share the most elegant definition of CRM I've heard yet. "CRM means treating different customers differently".

As a customer, what is your responsibility?

What Did You Expect?

2011-03-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

What do you expect from me, Mr. Customer?

Walmart: To give me the best value for my household dollar
Nordstrom: To make the process of buying clothes fit into my busy schedule
Zappos: To never say "no"
FedEx: To make sure that my customers get what I ship them when I say
Apple: To integrate my digital life into a single, seamless platform accessible through elegantly simple devices

Ok, so what's the point? My friend Tim Sanchez wrote a post the other day about expectations setting that got me thinking. At the intersection of customers and brands, who's expectations are they anyway? And why do some brands so wildly under deliver on the most modest of expectations? While, as Tim demonstrated through a video from Apple, some set meteoric expectations yet never seem to miss the mark.

Has Apple had some hiccups? Absolutely. Remember Antenna-Gate? But, ask people now and its a faded memory somewhere deep in the cerebellum.

The point is this. I don't think its Apple that sets the expectations at all. I think their customers (me, being in the raving fan category) are the ones that do. Remember reading "The Discipline of Market Leaders" back in B-School? The argument was that companies that excel focus on either product superiority, customer intimacy or operational excellence, and that great companies have a dominate persona; their value propositions being driven primarily through one of these.

We think of Apple as being world class in product superiority. I'd argue that they, in fact, are so intimately knowledgeable about their customers that they design products that their customers don't even know they need yet. And, they understand their customers so well that what may seem like outlandish claims in this video is mere feedback to their customers of exactly what they hear their customers tell them when the ask the question:

What do you expect?

Socialology 101

2011-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

So, before you click away from here thinking this is a rehashing of the social CRM definition debate, stop. It's not.

After I was awoken by my son last night at 2:15am, I laid back down and this thought popped into my head. I tossed and turned until five this morning, spinning it over and over and hoping I didn't fall asleep where the thought would be lost. I suppose I could have gotten up and wrote this post then, but, hey I don't have a white board in my bedroom.

So for argument's sake, lets start with Paul Greenberg's definition of social CRM:

"...the company's response to the customer's control of the conversation"

Ok, as some of you might know, I'm a technologist. I build stuff. But, the problem is I can't build a "response". Then I had a vision...at 2:15am. And, because I'm a right-brained techie (a rare breed), this vision wasn't an architecture diagram, it was of an open book. A book as the platform. And not this platform. This platform:

Books contain stories. So, this book is the platform for communicating and engaging; customer with customer, customer with brand. Within those conversations are stories.

With me so far?

So what is contained within those stories? What do we get out of books? Knowledge, information, data. This information about our customers, their wants, needs desires, is taken into our corporate brain. And hopefully, we become smarter about those customers. We get to know them better. We establish a relationship based on mutual understanding.

Then what do we do with all that knowledge that our customers have shared with us through those stories and conversations? We create stuff - products, services, solutions and experiences. And, because that stuff is more relevant to our customers' needs, those customers are happy customers....and they all do the wave in tribute to us.

Uh oh...have I just described good old CRM?

The Greatest Customer Service Letter Ever

2011-02-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

This letter from DefaultCase.com came to me from my friend Christina Bentley and I just had to share it with you.

Why, you may ask, is this the greatest customer service letter ever?
1. The company knows its customers. This approach wouldn't work for Hart Schaffner Marx
2. They get that every touch point is a chance to enhance the customer experience; to engage. Even a form letter doesn't read like a form letter

Enjoy!

Are Customers Just Plain Fickle?

2011-02-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

I must admit. Now I'm totally confused. Or, maybe it's not just me. Or, maybe it's not me at all. Maybe it's the customer that's a bit confused. Fickle maybe a more appropriate term?

There have been reams and reams of studies, blogs and articles reporting customers' sentiment in general about the sorry state of customer service across the board. In many of those writings, the customer has indicated a strong preference for self service. And, the trend towards that preference is growing rapidly, due to many factors such as demographic shifts. But, as important, is the feeling that, if live customer service stinks and, like a box of chocolates, you never know what or who or from what remote corner of the world you're gonna get, people would just as soon have a DIY option.

Now granted, self service has had a rocky history as well. By no means is it optimized. Just look at the track record of bank ATMs.

Then along came a question posted on LinkedIn from my friend Justin Flitter. who asked:

"What will customer service and a great customer experience look like in 5 or 10 years?"

And the responses Justin received confounded me. They all fall into the bucket of, in Justin's words, "robotic, impersonal customer service must die". Well, I can't argue with that. And, I think this is a hangover from the less-than-stellar deployment of self service options to-date. A couple other quotes from Justin's post:

"I predict that high-tech over high touch will experience a severe consumer back-lash. The self service, online transaction with little to no human contact will reach a tipping point of frustration"

"Self service transactions completely void of any human interaction and IVR...once seen as innovations in customer support, are now the bane of customers"

So, wait. Live customer service stinks. Self service stinks. Now what the hell do we do?

Here's what I read into all of this. Is it that we as customers don't know what we want? Well, not exactly. We know we want a great experience when we interact with a brand. I think that's the underlying message. As for how we get it, I think that's the part where we collectively as customers are grasping at straws out of pure frustration. If self service rocked, studies have shown that people would prefer that. It combines the great experience we desire with ultimate control, which by the way, enhances the experience for many. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of companies that have solved this equation.

Here's the deal folks. That train has left the station and it ain't coming back. Self service provides huge cost benefits to companies. And, it will continue to be a strategic focus in terms of customer service channel development. Because, high-touch human capital-based service costs dough. A lot of dough. Who's going to pay for that?

There is a balance that needs to be struck, however. As Amazon has done, its based on a three-part strategy, the combination of which I believe offers the best win-win for companies and customers.

First, redefine the role of the traditional customer service function in the enterprise. Make its mission to identify and fix the broken processes that drive, as Bill Price from Amazon calls them, "dumb contacts". These are the product defects, billing & shipping errors and other upstream flaws that drive unnecessary volume into customer service, stretching it beyond its capacity and forcing the function to focus on wringing efficiency out of its own processes rather than on delivering world-class service.

Next, focus on developing world-class self service and community based support channels that give customers that combination of flexibility, satisfaction and the sense of control.

Finally, invest in agent-based channels that focus on high-touch contacts that truly demand that level of service and engagement.

From a cost perspective, this is the only way companies can consistently justify and provide the level of high-touch, human capital-based customer service that it appears some folks are after.

Fuzzy Logic

2011-01-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

I threw together a one question survey last week to see if I could gain some perspective on why people respond to customer satisfaction surveys and, in general, what we as consumers expect from brands in return for our effort.

For those of you that are regular readers of this blog (thanks, Mom & Dad), you might recall I conducted a personal experiment last year where I responded to every survey I was offered, regardless of communication method. I took over 100 surveys and 97% (rounding down) seemed to go into a black hole; meaning I got nothing back, not even an acknowledgment of response.

So, if I assume this is representative, I got to wondering why, if the reply rate is so low, do we all continue to respond. What do we expect in return for our time and opinion. Maybe my expectation is whacked. So, I asked the question: "When responding to a customer satisfaction survey, what is your number one expectation?". And here's what you told me.

And I thank you. Apparently, I'm not crazy...about this, at least. 58% of you answered that you expect the company to take action on your responses and report back to you the results. I would fall into that same category. So, where's the disconnect? Let's look at the other responses first.

This one is on the opposite end of the spectrum and, at 23%, a bit surprising. But this group said they simply want to share information with no other expectation of engagement by the brand.

14% of you simply want the company to acknowledge receipt of your survey input. The level of detail of the response was not explored. So, I assume it could range from an auto-generated email to a phone call back or a knock on your front door; if your survey was geotracked.

5% of folks look for some goodies, free stuff. And, equally surprising as the 14% bucket was that nobody (that 0% up there) expects the company to contact you to ask for more information.

So, of the 58% that want action from the company, I can assume one of those actions is not a call back. I guess its more like - "hey, I had this problem. Go fix it and let me know you did it". That makes sense, I suppose.

So, because this isn't any type of scientific study, I'm not going to try to make any specific conclusions here. But, as we've heard rumors of, data is just data if its not actionable. So, the action item I would say falls back to companies. 58% of the respondents here expect you to take action on their feedback and report back to them. But, according to my experiment last year, 3% of you did that.

What conclusions would you reach from this? As a consumer? As a brand? (don't worry. I won't hold you to it).

What Do You Expect from a Customer Sat Survey

2011-01-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it. I have writers block. Its a combination of things that have driven me to this lowest of low points. But, like the batter in a slump, I'll keep coming to the plate until I connect.

With that admission, I'm asking for an intervention. I'm asking for your help. Last year I responded to a whole bunch of customer satisfaction surveys. As a matter of fact, I responded to everyone I received, regardless of the company, or method. I wasn't sure what my hypothesis was. I simply wanted to see what the range of responses were. And, from that, try to determine why companies invest so much effort in these satisfaction surveys.

So, here's where you come it. I'd like your input. I put a one question survey here to ask what your primary expectation is when you respond to such surveys. This is like a rorschach test. Don't over analyze. Give me your first reaction. I'll be back here to report the results to you and see what we come up with.

Thanks

Marketing is Marketing. Customer Service is Customer Service.

2010-12-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

Before you go calling for me to turn in my social customer service clubhouse key (not that mine has ever worked since I found it on the bus), this isn't my conclusion. I looked it up; "customer service is the new marketing" that is.

I asked Santa for it. but, like I came to learn when I was a kid, you don't always get everything on your list. Apparently there was a run on this request at the North Pole. And, since I didn't see any after-Christmas sales on it in last Sunday's paper, I went looking for it myself.

To find this elusive beast, naturally, I headed straight for Wikipedia. And, hey, if it isn't in Wikipedia, it doesn't exist, right? (apparently unicorns do exist. They're in there.) I typed in "customer service marketing" and, among others, here's what I found:

But no definition of "customer service is the new marketing". So, is it real? Does something need a definition to be real? Love is real. I can feel it. But I'm not so sure I could define it. And, even if I could, my definition is probably different than yours.

So, what do we make of this statement: "customer service is the new marketing"? It's a great tag line, for sure. And its a noble goal to envision the breakdown of functional silos between marketing, sales and service - all focusing on the common objective of a superior customer experience. Marketing and sales for sure need to think more like customer service; shut up and listen. Got that. So, conceptually, I get where folks are coming from when they say it.

As I interpret it, organizations have an opportunity to create a competitive advantage by becoming more customer-centric; focusing on understanding customers better and using that knowledge to co-create an experience that truly delivers measurable value for the customer. So, with all that, yes, we could all learn a thing or two from customer service in terms of how to engage with our customers.

But, at the end of the day. Marketing has a job to do, regardless of the revolution in its methods. Customer service has a job to do, regardless of what new social channel emerges next.

Remember when we thought customer service was the new sales? Cross selling? Up selling? Service to sales call flows? And, then hit the backlash from the front lines. "We're not sales people". "I don't like sales". And, there was the backlash from customers. We see how well that worked out.

So, how about this instead? Rather than "customer service is the new marketing". Maybe we ought to think in terms of "Customer Service is the New Business of Business".

The Year In Customer Care- eBook from The Social Customer

2010-12-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

The Social Customer recently published its crowd-sourced eBook called The Year in Customer Care. The book is a compilation of 2010 blog posts voted on by TSC readers.

While this post may come off as in-your-face, gratuitous self promotion, I hope it is received with the spirit in which it is intended. It is to share this collection with you. And, to entice you, I've provided a few comments about how each of the articles in the book made me a bit smarter. So, in that light, let me first say that I'm completely and utterly flattered to be included in the company of the other authors here - the likes of which include some of the leading thinkers and practitioners in customer experience. These are folks that I have learned a great deal from over time. I hope these articles add to your thinking as well.

As Robin Carey, the CEO and Co-Founder of Social Media Today, starts off in her forward, social customer service is not simply about applying social tools and technologies to existing business practices. Becoming a social business means evolving, sometimes radically, the way your company views and communicates with your customers. Customers really are empowered like at no other time. And, they are exercising that power in both positive sometimes very negative ways. So, as Bob Dylan said, the times the are a changing.

In chapter 1, as the social customer continues to redefine social business, Vanessa DiMauro, CEO of Leader Networks tackles a red-hot topic this year: the challenge of redefining customer value metrics. Read Vanessa's thoughts on how WOM, social influence analysis and other social data are changing the definition of lifetime value and the insights into our customers.

Never one to think about today or tomorrow for more than 5 minutes, Esteban Kolsky is always looking further and further down the road to help us navigate in the same direction as the social customer. In chapter 2, Esteban takes a looks at the customer relationship beyond social business, including the value of social data and channel integration.

The title of Chapter 3 may conjure up a specific image in your head. I know it did in mine. And, I'm guessing that was author Peter Auditore's intention. The provocative title of this article leads to Peter painting a vivid picture of the mobile social customer and how there is no place for brands to hide from customers in this wireless, connected world.

The term management implies the ability to control something towards a specific direction. From one of my favorite social business practitioners, Maria Ogneva a challenge, and rightfully so in my opinion, the notion that the relationship between a customer and brand can be managed by the brand. While this post doesn't spend time bickering about terms, it makes a very important point that its the experience, and how its co-created and nurtured, that matters to the social customer.

Who engages in the experiences with your customers at each touch point? I saw a great sign on a lobby reception desk several months ago that made me write this contribution. This is a conversation I've had in several flavors over the course of this year. The bottom line is that everyone in your company, whether they be "back office" or "customer facing", impacts the customer's perception of the experience. Instill that culture in your organization, and you'll have achieved a lot.

Frank Eliason concludes the book establishing that in fact there is a dark side to customer service. Sounds funny coming from Frank, for those of you who are familiar with the original @comcastcares on twitter. And by dark side, I interpret Frank's post as referring to the genie that has been let out of the bottle through the social business revolution. As I mentioned above, customers now have a voice bigger than anytime before. In some hands however, that voice is like a loaded gun in the hands of an infant. Some customers are releasing their pent up frustrations towards companies and brands in very destructive, and in some cases, borderline illegal ways.

There has been much progress in the execution of social customer service, social business and the new customer experience paradigm. There are now I believe some great companies to model your strategy after, great minds to learn from and even some case studies to show the path to those "fast followers". There is also much work to be done.

Seeing companies still struggling with CRM over 20 years after the concept first surfaced is proof that change is really hard. It takes organization-wide commitment, dedication and, oh yea, investment. I'm excited to see what 2011 brings in terms of new thinking from my colleagues here in this eBook and all the great folks at The Social Customer.

Once again, if you haven't already, you can download a free copy of The Year in Customer Care eBook right here.

My Customer Experience Christmas List

2010-12-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,

I'm not really sure if I've been naughty or nice this year. I guess that's for you to decide. But, when I was on your lap at the mall on Saturday, you asked if I had made my list yet. So, here it is. I don't expect much. But whatever you can do.

Bring my #custserv chat friends whatever they want. And put it on the Underhill's tab
Please ask the Burgermeister to outlaw the use of the letters A - H - T together
Issue a North Pole decree finally answering the question "Is customer service the new marketing?"
A new book from Emily Yellin
The real value of influencer analysis in customer service treatment and segmentation
A face to face interview with @writethecompany
A wee bit better engagement rate than 2.7% on the CSAT surveys I respond to next year
"The Cloud for Dummies" (and then lock away all copies in a mountain vault in Utah)
Free passes on the "delight and amaze" train making stops at Back-to-Basics, Do The Simple Things First & The Customer is Always...someone to whom you should listen
Zappos Airlines (come on Tony. Do it!)

Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Your Biggest Fan
Barry

What signals are you sending?

2010-11-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

Which should come first? Employees or customers? Its a conversation I've found myself in on a number of occasions recently. For those looking at the customer service world from the customer's point of view, the answer might seem obvious. Its us! The customers. Then why do perennial customer experience stars seem to reap more than their share of customer accolades and loyalty by doing the opposite?

Take a look at Fortune's list of Best Places to Work. For those that follow customer satisfaction surveys, many names on this list should look familiar: Norstrom, Marriott, Starbucks, Zappos. And right at the top of the list is Wegmans, who's motto is "employees first. customers second". And, doesn't it just make sense? After all, who interacts with your customers? Who answers the phone? Who ships your products? Who sends invoices? Your employees.

So, when I saw this sign next to the front door of a business the other day, it made me wonder. What kind of signs do we give our employees about their value to our business? What kind of signal does this send to our customers who walk through that main entrance?

The economy implodes, we as executives fear for our jobs. The first thing we do is purge the payroll. Sure, there are often valid reasons for such action that are tied to simple economic theory 101. But, often this is simply the path of least resistance to self preservation. It's the easiest thing to do.

AIG nearly goes under. Thousands lose their jobs. Yet executives rewarded their failures with huge bonuses.

Visitors and executives get the prime parking spots near the front door. Employees park out back.

A project fails and the project manager gets sacked. How about a promotion for failing early and learning from it to make the next project a success?

The examples are endless. But the message is the same. We more often than not value stuff over people. Our plant and equipment over our people.

But, put yourself in your customers shoes. What door do you want to walk through in those shoes? The one above. Or this one.

Social Business Is For Girls

2010-11-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

How do you make decisions? How do you interact with customers and colleagues? Businesses? Friends? Neighbors?

Remember the groundbreaking book by John Gray back in 1992, Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus?

The Cave

In his book, Gray explored the core differences in the way men and women approach problem solving and interpersonal relationships. Under stressful situations, men tend to withdraw until we find the solution to the problem. Gray calls this "retreating into the cave". The function of the retreat is to take the time to determine a solution; to insulate ourselves in order to not be exposed, to not be put into a position where we don't have all the answers and are vulnerable. When faced with a issue, we tend to jump to "solve mode".

Women, on the other hand, when faced with an issue, do the opposite. They engage. They seek out friends, colleagues, trusted companions. And, they talk about the issue. GASP! Talk? When I don't know the answer? What if someone sees through my facade? What if my lack of expertise is exposed? What if I, dare I say, appear transparent?

The Wave

Gray describes "the wave" as a woman's natural ability to give to other people. He claims that when a woman gives to others, her natural wave is in a stable state. But, when she gives and gives, with little in return, her wave will crash on the shore. In these times, women need someone to listen, understand and reassure them - to reciprocate those things that she has been putting out all along.

Sounds like social business to me. Listen, understand, engage, talk, collaborate, give and receive acceptance and seek mutual value from strengthened relationships. The kind of relationships that create a stable wave and allow us to get things done.

So, if you want to make sense of this whole social business thing, the next time testosterone man in the locker room calls you a "girlie man", take it as a compliment and know that you're on the right path.

The social conscience of social business

2010-10-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure this subject has been written on thousands of times. And while my mind has been turning it over for quite some time as well, conversations with several folks over the past week brought this to a boil.

We talk about social business in terms of customer engagement, internal and external collaboration, listening more, shouting less; all those good things. Then there are folks that are using social media to do really amazing things to improve humanity. And then finally, there are organizations and companies that are mashing the two together to make doing good, make money.

Is this the new business model? Pay it forward the new payback?

The Giving Pledge campaign is an awesome example of the incredible charity possible when wealthy folks decide to give all that wealth toward the betterment of us all.

I'm seeing more and more social business folks with the same mindset before they even earn their first dollar.

Think of the possibilities.

Retention Tension

2010-10-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

With every new post, every new article, there seems to be a different spin on the topic of customer retention vs. acquisition and which is the more cost effective strategy to pursue.

I've written about this before. But I think it's worth revisiting in light of this post I saw from Spoken Communications this week. I really respect @spokencomm and the wonderful content they bring to the conversation. I did take pause however, when this most recent post, referring to data from Flowtown, started with:

"We've all heard the saying that it costs more to acquire a new customer than to maintain an existing customer. But Flowtown actually did the math"

So, I'm here asking for help. I don't see the math in the information presented. I do see another claim suggesting it's 6 to 7 times more costly to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. But, I've yet to see a rigorous statistical analysis to prove the claim. I'm looking for the formula. What are the variables? Flowtown suggests some "costs associated with finding new customers". But, I'm not seeing the hard empirical data. Flowtown also suggests that profits from satisfied customers come from: Reduced price sensitivity; Reduced switching to competitors; Increased referrals and Increased repeat purchases. In what industries? What type of customers? These seem like broad generalizations. And, by the way, can't new customers be satisfied also? What is the time period that needs to elapse before a customer is considered 'existing'? Flowtown is mixing comparative data.

As Ron Shevlin wrote in a post back in June where, at least in banking, he effectively debunked these types of claims, there is no standard definition of what costs to include in trying to calculate the cost of customer retention or acquisition. As Flowtown demonstrated, it's very subjective. And, Ron's example calls out the fact that in some cases, especially in the Long Tail, customer acquisition costs can approach zero. While on the other hand, the cost to service those customers to the level required to deliver the price elasticity, referral and loyalty results that Flowtown suggests would be significant.

These types of articles and claims resonate with many folks because they fit with our intuition about how the customer relationship works. On a superficial, intuitive level, I get that. But intuition doesn't resound with the CFO. If your goal is to build a plan and the request investment for a customer retention program, you'll need hard numbers. You'll need to first define what "cost" means; define whether your company is in growth mode (meaning revenue will be more of a focus) or you're more of a mature company focused on profitability.

So, I'm not here to suggest heresy against the value of customer relationships and loyalty, think of it more as my Friday public service announcement. Without a clear definition of terms and rigorous analytic process, this discussion becomes a tennis volley of splashy headlines. And as any of us that have attempted it and gotten skewered, trying to sell a tag line into the executive suite just creates too much internal tension. And who needs more tension?

Finally joined the mile-high club

2010-10-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so that title was a cheap tactic to get you here. It's true in a sense thought. Because I don't fly for business nearly as much as I used to (my family kind of digs that), I haven't had much chance to do the in-flight wifi thing. Well, I'm doing it now. Blogging, that is. From about six and a half miles up actually.

I'm on my way to San Francisco for the annual conference of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP). Historically, the content of this conference, and the attendees, has been very focused on in-the-trenches issues that consumer affairs - a unique band of customer service people - professionals deal with day to day. Such topics have included crisis management, adverse events, handling product recalls and performance management metrics. That model is about to erupt; giving way to what I think will launch this organization, and its members, into a whole new strata.

Starting back in the Spring of this year, the first of these semi-annual events covered various topics around social business pretty hard. This was a pivotal conference that really started the transformational thinking of SOCAPs members about what it means to be a social business and deliver social customer services.

My thought is that, after this next three days in San Francisco, that train is going to be heading down the track, full steam ahead, with no breaks. And that's a good thing!

One review of the agenda and keynotes for the conference and it's clear to even the passer-by that SOCAP is getting recognition as a forum for driving change in the way companies think about and interact with the social customer.

As one of the keynote speakers, Charlene Li first described in her book Groundswell, the attendees of this event will own the groundswell in their own organizations come Thursday. Attendees will be the drivers of change. I'm bullish on the prospects for consumer affairs to radically transform itself.

Some attending the conference have already made great strides towards in their transformation. Anticipating a focus on collaboration and a demonstration of the spirit of social business, I can't wait to land and get into the SOCAP and business of social customer service.

If you're interested in following the event, I'll be live tweeting during the conference at hashtag #SOCAPac10. I'll probably be back here once or twice as well for some reflection as things heat up.

Social Customer Service and The Nile Perch

2010-10-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

If you've been a frequent reader of Seth Godin's blog for some time as I have, you get to a point when you finally appreciate the subtlety of Seth. After reading enough of his stuff, you get the sense that he often has a personal experience or specific target about which he's writing. But his genius lies in the fact that he rarely takes the easy pot shot or calls out that target by name. Instead, he focuses on the lesson, remaining broad and vague enough to allow you, the reader, to connect the dots to your own experiences, thus making an infinitely more valuable tool for driving change.

I had one of those moments this weekend, when Seth's Beware the Nile Perch crossed my reading list directly after this story about twitter revolutionizing airline customer service, posted by James Sorensen in the #custserv daily.

Twitter is revolutionizing airline customer service? Isn't this a bit of fools gold? So, the airline's ability to revolutionize its service delivery and radically alter the customer experience is based on a new tool? A new channel? Because some tech-savvy customer tweets the fact that they are angry, and now the airlines know its cool and hip to monitor twitter and respond, we now conclude that the entire industry is going to revolutionize its service delivery model?

In case you don't click through to it, the gist of Seth's post is that, like the Nile perch that is easy to catch and a potentially abundant food source, making it tempting to introduce it into waters all over the world, introduction of foreign species where they don't belong can be devastating to the entire ecosystem. Twitter and other social tools are the "bright shiny objects" that have the potential to mask the real issues with the airline service experience, garnering positive press like in the article above and allowing the industry to use words like "revolution". All this, while service continues to erode, the customer has never felt more abandoned and survey ratings show the airlines among the absolute worst performers in terms of customer service.

We've seen this scenario play out once before. And while the final chapter isn't written, the cable industry has experienced its own Nile Perch. A small band of rebels led by a super human being Frank Eliason figured out how to exploit Twitter to address customer service issues for a small subset of cable customers, while gaining a tremendous amount of positive exposure for their employer. But, what about the masses? Those that don't tweet? Customer satisfaction ratings across the cable industry still scrape the bottom.

So, while its tempting to load up the covered wagon and join the rush to social customer service, it might turn out that this fool's gold isn't even real, but merely a mirage.

Things Aren't Always As They Appear

2010-10-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

When presented with a new problem, an unknown entity, it's human nature to compartmentalize that new quantity under a heading that is well known and familiar. This process helps us make sense of things. It helps us apply our experience and existing knowledge to the problem in an effort to simplify and solve.

But, bucketing new concepts like that can often limit our thinking, stifle the creative process and create blind spots and business risk.

I've been observing this problem solving method growing in application as relates to how social media and social CRM will impact customer service and the contact center.

So, here are five key considerations to weigh before you conclude that social media is "just another customer service channel"

1. Style vs. Substance - I was at a conference of customer service folks recently where the subject of communication style came up. Specifically, many faced the challenge of "undoing" the training that has been engraned in agents to communicate properly and formally, in order to appear more "real", less corporate and to speak in the manner that "social" customers expect. This is not an easy task. And many at this conference are struggling especially with agents having to flip back and forth between styles, depending if they are tweeting, talking on the phone or emailing. This is not an insignificant change management quandary.
Impact: training, culture, quality, recruiting

Recommendation: why not ditch the stuffy corporate speak regardless of the channel? You're really not connecting with your customers in any meaningful way anyway when you start your email response with "Dear Sir". You're not establishing rapport by reading some contrived, impersonal phone script.

2. Organizational Structure - This is a really broad topic. But how customer services reports up through the organization can impact its role in customer engagement via web 2.0 and beyond. In some organizations, consumer affairs or customer service report into Quality or Manufacturing. In those scenarios, the focus is very different than customer service integrated with marketing, brand management or PR. There have been a lot of models put forth in terms of how to organize the social organization, like this early rendition from Jeremiah Owyang: the hub and spoke model. Depending on where customer service resides, it will engage the social customer in very different ways, for very different reasons.
Impact: corporate strategy, organizational design, performance management, culture

3. Service Levels and Performance Management - At the same conference where the crowd struggled with communication styles, the discussion also turned to the subject of KPIs. Because this was a very senior group of veteran contact center folks, they were working within the framework of traditional production-based and cost-centric metrics. So, I heard KPIs like: posts viewed per hour and responses per hour and average speed to respond. In social media circles, if you talk about bots and auto DMs and the like, you'll get a pretty stern response. Many feel these things cut against the grain of the spirit of social networking. So, you might want to think twice before trying to automate the process of social customer service engagement, whether via a bot or a human on a timer by applying traditional performance management systems.
Impact: compensation, financial management, training, recruiting, culture, quality management

Recommendation: As in #1 above, perhaps social media and the social customer are giving us a general wake up call in customer service that the tried and true approaches to customer engagement need an overhaul. Business typically needs an external catalyst for initiating change. Social media and the social customer are that catalyst. We lament that customer service has historically been relegated as a cost of doing business. Yet, we as practitioners in many ways perpetuate that by applying dated business models and metrics. Its time for different thinking.

4. Data & Channel Integration - The techie in me had to raise this issue. In our traditional contact center customer service world, a customer calls and we collect their entire dossier in the process of the interaction. We know their name, phone number, email, address....When we engage on twitter, we know their twitter handle and, depending on the tools you're using, their email address. Which in my case is not the same email address I use in other parts of my life. So, who is this @bsdalton I'm talking to? Check the CRM. Wait! I don't have a field called "twitter ID". Ok, so I'm over simplifying this issue. Way over simplifying. But, hopefully, you get the idea. As we add more and more channels of communication, we run the risk of fragmenting further the quality of our customer data.
Impact: marketing, IT, voice of the customer, reporting, customer experience, customer segmentation, routing

5. Scalability - While very cool and a great start, the two CSRs you've taken off the phone and sat in front of Hootsuite and Facebook to engage with your consumers is not scalable. If we all believe that the social customer will continue to drive engagement in the manner in which they choose and the volume will continue to grow, it will require significant change in the processes by which that volume of interactions is handled. Best Buy has taken a shot at this problem with their Twelpforce, leveraging the concepts of unified communications to handle the demand for service via twitter. Technology vendors such as Avaya and Cisco are coming to market with solutions that are addressing this question. As we start to blend social web interactions with interactions via phone, email, chat and others, new routing strategies, new methods will be needed to scale operations in order to prevent the degradation and, more so, enhance the customer experience.
Impact: technology, data, training, performance metrics, service levels

So, while there are others, hopefully this is a thought starter that drives your thinking from a different perspective. Social CRM is not a channel. Its not a technology. Its not always what it appears.

A Pterodactyl and an iPad walked into a bar...

2010-10-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

So, the US Postal Service submitted a request to raise first class rates again this week and got shot down. And, I thought to myself "what's the point?". The USPS will lose about seven billion dollars this year, up from around four billion last year; even after eliminating over 35,000 jobs.

Sorry folks, but this dinosaur is ready for the tar pits.

Is it fair that the USPS is forced to deliver junk mail to the most rural, remote reaches of this country that goes directly from the mailbox to the recycling bin? No. Is it reasonable that US Postal workers receive the kind of retirement benefits that leave most of us green with envy? Depends on your perspective.

But, what makes no sense to me is why there has been absolutely no receptivity within the Federal government to allowing the postal service to evolve. What would have happened if the Postal Service was privatized as some have argued for years? I'm guessing the business model would look nothing like it does today. And I'm guessing the customer experience would be just a wee bit more engaging.

Post Privatization Business Plan

Day one: outsource delivery, sorting, collecting and processing of mail.
Day two: focus on developing and bringing to market value-added services that help direct marketers (the biggest customer of the USPS) find more profitable methods for reaching their target consumers.

Need a role model? I offer you Deluxe Corporation.

Who is Deluxe?

Those are the guys that used to print your checks from your bank. "Today's Deluxe is the indispensable partner for unleashing the growth potential of small businesses and financial institutions"

Seems like Deluxe was looking out the windshield instead of the rearview mirror and saw the way that whole check printing business was going. Good for them!

Do they still print checks? Yes. Specialized checks for people that want the souvenir. But, the drivers of their business include such things as branding services, promotional products, fraud protection services, cash management. Knowledge management! ON LINE SOCIAL COMMUNITY HOSTING!!! Get out!

This ain't your grandfather's Deluxe Corp.

This is a really cool story of a company that came to a fork in the road on its business sojourn and had two choices. Do things the way they've always been done because thats what they know. That's what's worked. That's what's safe. Or do something completely different. Which is more risky?

Business doesn't have to change, survival is not a requirement. Deluxe not only decided to survive. It decided to thrive.

Remember Apple 15 years ago? Is your business the pterodactyl or the iPad?

The Customer of The Future. And what it really means.

2010-09-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Seems like I've been getting a lot of mileage out of McKinsey's Customer Decision Journey study from last year. The research outlines the evolution of the manner in which consumers make decisions. It is no longer a linear process or funnel, mapped by marketers with a corresponding marketing funnel.

Why I say I've gotten mileage out of this is because its really made me think about the enterprise and operational implications of this quantum shift in customer behavior.

In short, here's what I mean (press 'play', 'more', 'autoplay'):

Social CRM & The Customer of the Future on Prezi

Zappos Airlines

2010-09-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

The following is a guest post by my friend and passionate advocate for the customer experience, Tim Sanchez. Tim is the General Manager at ABIS Consulting Group, an enterprise software and consulting firm based in Houston, Texas. Tim's blog, Deliver Bliss, is dedicated to, as Tim describes it, "getting down to business of customer experience and helping to deliver bliss to customers every day"

What do Zappos and the airline industry have in common? Almost nothing, except that they're both in the news quite a lot. While Zappos frequently makes headlines for doing what's right for the customer, most of the airline industry is busy scheming ways to nickel and dime its customers.

But, what if you were to mash the two together and Zappos started an airline? It's something that CEO Tony Hsieh has mentioned on more than one occasion, including in his recent book, Delivering Happiness. Barry and I tossed around some ideas a couple months ago regarding Zappos and how they could transform the air travel experience.

How would Zappos run an airline? What would the face-to-face experiences be like? How would ticket exchanges be handled? What would the planes look like?

Borrowing from five of the Zappos Core Values, let's take a quick look at the experience we might expect from Zappos Airlines.

1. Deliver WOW through Service
The #1 core value of Zappos is the foundation of their culture. It's also the catalyst for the ridiculous amounts of word-of-mouth marketing the brand receives; it's amazing to think a brand that sells something as boring as shoes is reinventing a business model. Zappos is proof that a company can create value and loyalty by consistently delivering a great service experience.

Do your recent air travels conjure up thoughts of remarkable service? Were you wowed by the airline's ability to deliver an unexpected and innovative experience? My guess is no. Are there random acts of it occuring? Sure there are, more so on airlines like Southwest, but they're still few and far between. I think Zappos Airlines would be different. By delivering WOW through service and creating a remarkable customer experience, Zappos Airlines could build the same word of mouth and loyalty they've enjoyed in the online retail world.

2. Embrace and Drive Change
Talk about something the airline industry needs a lesson on. Their idea of change is removing meals and charging for bags. While those things have helped the industry get back into the black, they've demoralized travelers and seem to have escalated service incidents, like this one (and this one and this one and this one and this one and...well, you get the picture).

3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
Southwest actually does a pretty good job of this, but that's only because it's also part of their culture. The rest of the industry seems to look down on fun and weirdness. If anything, I'd say they're seen as a safety threat; something that should be avoided at all costs.

I'm told that people used to look forward to flying; that it was a privilege awarded to a lucky few. It must have been fun back then. I bet they smiled more. I bet they took great pride in their products and service. I bet they wore attractive and eye-catching uniforms. I bet they weren't afraid to have fun while at work. I bet they acted a lot like Zappos acts today.

4. Be Adventurous, Creative, And Open-Minded
The air travel experience is a victim of rigid and pointless policy. The TSA has instituted a vicious fear tax (no snowglobes please) whose only purpose is to simulate security, not actually provide it.

The airlines have followed suit and continue to adhere to rigid systems that thwart service, instead of empowering their employees to use awareness and make decisions that are helpful to both the customer and the company.

Zappos prides itself on hiring employees that can solve problems in their own way by thinking outside the box. They are encouraged to take risks and not punished when they don't work out. This creates unexpected and memorable experiences. Experiences worth remarking about. Experiences that drive loyalty.

5. Do More With Less
As the airline industry continues to search for experience-destroying ways to increase the bottom line, companies like Zappos are busy providing great service and making money. The only thing the airline industry is producing more of is complaints. The recent Air Travel Consumer Report from the US Department of Transportation shows a 90% increase in complaints when comparing June 2009 to June 2010. Year to date statistics show a 32% increase in complaints in comparison to the same time period a year ago.

While the value delivered by the airlines continues to diminish, Zappos is always striving to incrementally improve itself. As they become increasingly more efficient and refuse to succumb to the good enough syndrome that plagues its competition, Zappos continues to serve as an example for not just a great shoe company, but a great service company.

I don't know about you, but I'll be waiting in line to buy my ticket on Zappos Airlines...just as soon as Tony finishes up with that bus.

Channel Your Energy

2010-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Again the dynamic, fast-paced, wild and informative #custserv chat on Twitter this week is bringing me here to see if I can sort through an issue in a slightly lower gear. If you've ever participated in these chats on Tuesday nights, you know the speed at which the tweets fly by; allowing for a mere dusting of the issues.

The title of this weeks chat was "Interacting with your Customer: Text? Voice? Video?". As you might expect with a title like that, this topic could have gone, and did go, in many directions. Eric Jacques, in his reflection here, argues that the tools you use should be the last thing on your mind with respect your service delivery model. That's a whole other related but separate topic. And, worth the read.

I boiled down this issue in my mind into three buckets that I've outlined in the clip below. By the way, that's the way my mind works. I think in threes. Good tactic when organizing thoughts for presentations or writing. Try it. My bonus gift to you.

Channel Challenges

The addition of multiple channels of communication will continue to increase both the number and complexity

I don' think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer to the channel strategy question. In my mind, it's a matter of selecting a strategy, committing to it and building your execution capabilities to support that strategy; a strategy that has the main goal of enhancing the customer experience.

Your thoughts?

Enoclophobia in Customer Service?

2010-09-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

(disclaimer: the following is not intended to defame, denigrate or disparage in anyway people suffering from this or any other physical or intellectual affliction.)

The fear of crowds. In the context of crowdsourcing and community-based or customer-led service, I got the sense this past week that there are pockets of this condition within customer service. And I'm challenged to understand why. So, I come here seeking a different point of view.

Some of the things people who really suffer from this, in some cases, completely debilitating condition fear will happen when in a crowd include:

Being trampled to death
Getting lost in a massive crowd of people
They feel small and insignificant when surrounded by so many people

Could these be the same causes of this fear in customer service?

As a customer service professional, I think some of the reasons that you may be experiencing this fear are:

You may worry you'll no longer be of value to your company or customers
You're not certain your customers will get accurate information
Your company will reduce your pay. After all customers do this for free in the community
There is a potential for loss of control
The idea that someone, a customer, could possibly know more about your products than you

I get it. It is a bit frightening. There is however a difference between a healthy sense of trepidation and the paralyzing grip of phobia that manifests itself into a resistance to change. Change is coming. And this change is good. The evidence is here and is mounting that supports the value of community-based service to the bottom line and the customer experience.

Because fear is driven in part from a lack of information, here is some references:

Groundswell - the seminal book about the social media revolution discusses many customer service community case studies

Insightful post from @arigoldshlager about Intuit's Quickbooks community

Promon, a Brazilian engineering company, "crowdsources" its entire business

...And the list continues to grow.

So, how do we overcome our enoclophobia in customer service?

Take the reins. Communities don't run themselves. They need moderation, care and feeding. Be that resource that creates the community strategy and builds the community.
Do more research. Find out how other organizations are leveraging customers in service delivery. Learn how those more mature models evolved.
Revisit the value proposition and strategy for customer service in your organization. If your customers are willing to perform the task that have pinned you into the "cost of doing business" corner in your organization, let them. Create a different value proposition and purpose; like being internal consultants to remove organizational drivers of service demand.
Embrace change and let go.

Your fear is real. My intent is not to dismiss it. It's up to us though to manage the fear by leading and embracing change rather than trying to maintain control and be a barrier to it. Knowledge is power. Learn as much as you can about these trends and figure out your new value proposition.

Measure Twice. Cut Once.

2010-08-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of those times where delay (you call it procrastination. I call it unforeseen schedule conflict) is a good thing. I heard this story on NPR several days ago about Groupon's local web-based marketing program. And I was all ready two days ago to run here to comment.

My initial take was somewhat in line with Fast Company's review, in which they portrayed Groupon and other such local and location-based services like Foursquare as evil predators feeding on the weak consumer, powerless to resist a good deal. Then, while I was tending to other my other chores, Ron Shevlin was writing his take. And, as he usually does, Ron helped me rethink the issue. Fast Company totally sensationalized the issue. Groupon is not running a "scheme" or "classic marketing trick". They're providing a service. So, what's the real issue?

From a customer experience perspective, the real danger with such marketing programs, that seem to be producing wildly successful results so far, is that they are getting in the wrong hands. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. For The Gap, with the infrastructure, logistics and operational capacity to handle such overwhelming demand, there really is no problem. But for small businesses like East Coast Aero Club or Red Velvet Cupcakery, sorry to say, but they're out of their league.

The failure of these two companies was not in the execution of the marketing campaign, but in their failure to plan. I understand its a tough economy. And businesses of all sizes are looking for customers where ever the can find them. But, this story isn't new. Its a classic case of short term revenue focus, sacrificing the long term customer experience. Let's connect the dots:

Short term revenue focus, leads to

Overwhelming campaign response from what is most likely a larger percentage of one-time buyers, leads to

Insufficient production/delivery capacity to satisfy demand, leads to

Disappointed new customers, leads to

Increased demand for customer service and support, leads to

Alienated long-term loyal customers, leads to

"Redvelvetsux.com"

Measure twice. Cut Once. Grow your revenue as fast as you possibly can. Just make sure you plan for success. Customers rarely give you a second chance to get it right.

Does Influence Matter in Customer Service?

2010-08-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

No. My opinion of that was solidified last week thanks to a band of wikid smat (translated: "really smart" for you non-Bostonians) people led by Wim Rampen. Wim tossed some tweet chum out there last week with this:

This whole search for influencers and influence doesn't sit right with me...what are your thoughts?

I took the bait. And, this started a fascinating twitter chat about this complex, multi-dimensional issue. My response was:

I'm in customer service. I don't care about influence. Customer has a problem, gotta fix it.

Do we ask callers who they know before we provide service? Do we respond to emails with "I'd be happy to help you if you could first tell me how many twitter followers you have and how many people subscribe to your RSS feed". Of course not. Being a bottom line kind of person, this is where I jumped to. But, as others like Prem Kumar, Brian Vellmure and Mitch Lieberman pointed out, it's complicated.

While I think we are all in agreement, each of these folks came at the topic from slightly different angles. And there are many. Case in point: based on a recent article about Delta Airline's use of Twitter for customer service, Mitch saw it this way. Wim pondered the validity of influencers in general in a post that stimulated a great discussion. Eric Jacques also weighed in.

So you can clearly see, it's an issue with many moving parts.

My point is this. Customers need service. That part is simple. So, I stand by my assertion that I don't care about influence. That is not to say, however, that every customer gets the same white glove level of service treatment every time, all the time. Economic realities and scarcity of resources dictate that, in order to deliver a superior service experience, many organizations have a need to segment their customers for treatment. But, what possible value is created by making those segmentation decisions based on influence? According to Wim, he's already witnessing this practice. It's even more insane in my mind to use this criteria over or in place of other measures like CLV, profitability or loyalty.

So, as I commented to Wim over on CustomerThink, picture this scenario:

Average Joe Consultant, who's a Delta million miler and flies them exclusively, gets bumped from a flight, is disconnected from hold after 15 minutes or is charged cancellation fees or made to swipe his credit card to use the head because special treatment is being given instead to someone who tweets his request instead of calls, has 5 million followers but has never flown Delta before.

What if that was you, Joe?

...and now for something completely different

2010-08-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

There are so many smart folks thinking and blogging and tweeting and consulting and advising every day about customer service and the customer experience; each with a different angle and point of view. Collectively, all these ideas and concepts, suggestions and action plans surely give anyone charged with this responsibility in their organization the ammo to move the ball forward toward whatever goals they've established. I get so many good ideas myself from the many people I respect and sources I trust. So, I'm thinking. Is it too much information?

How does an average brain like mine digest all this great information, consolidate it and make the determination of what will actually move the ball in my business? Then again, is that what I'm really after? Moving the ball down the field? Am I a singles hitter? Or should I be swigging for the fence? Ok, so if I go for a home run, I know I'm going to strike out more often. So what. (sports analogies exhausted for now)

So, how about something completely different? You say you want a revolution? Well, I'm thinking its high time. What was the last revolution in the customer experience? In customer service? Is it social media? It might enable a revolution. But, by itself? No. Customer communities? Until superusers unionize and go on strike. Self service? It's been here a while and it still basically stinks in many cases.

You want a real revolution? You truly want to turn your organization on its head? Inject some radical thinking into the board room? Make analysts and shareholders sit up and take notice?

Promote your head of customer service, whatever that title is today - Chief Customer Officer, SVP of Customer Service, Director of Customer Support.

Make him or her your next CEO.

Who Needs Customer Service Anyway?

2010-08-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

One group that shouldn't is our customers.

Now, I'm not talking about customer engagement, service delivery or the customer experience in general. What I mean is the first thing people usually think about when they think about customer service - "the call center". That phone number you have to call when something went awry.

What customers need and want are companies to satisfy their specific issues. I've been reading a bunch lately about service-dominant logic thanks to folks like Wim Rampen and Graham Hill. It is an experience economy. Customers don't buy products or services. They exchange something for something. Most often, its money in exchange for satisfaction of a specific need or issue. A car satisfies emotional needs, ego needs and the need to get from point A to point B; among others.

So, while I'm hearing much lately about customer service becoming the new marketing, I take issue with this for a couple of reasons.

First, this statement assumes as fact that "customer service" is a function or department, connected to which is usually a call center. It discounts the real value of customer service as a business strategy, a corporate philosophy and a culture that permeates an enterprise. And, so this leads to issue number two.

Companies that have a deep-rooted foundation in a customer-service oriented culture focus on the customer experience. That experience starts with the very first interaction with the brand; through advertising, word-of-mouth, entering a store or any other of myriad methods by which customers get introduced to brands. This process often starts even before a need is identified by the customer that requires attention. Many of these companies consider it actually a failure of the experience delivery if a customer need the customer service department.

This failure, in those companies that really understand the drivers of customer satisfaction, loyalty and superior experience, represent an opportunity to do something; to fix a problem internally.

What customer service (in the departmental sense) should focus on evolving into is the hub for business process reengineering within the company. Yes, good old BPR. I'm sure some of you remember Michael Hammer from B-School. His claim was that most of the work being done in an organization (answering customer calls) does not add any value for customers. And, this work should be removed rather than accelerated through automation - where we spend most of our "BPR" efforts within the four walls of the contact center.

Start with this. Run a simple report from your contact center CRM system on contact reason codes. How many of them say things like "billing inquiry" or "shipment error" or "product spoiled/damaged". Those codes mean there is something going on elsewhere in the company that is causing that customer to need customer service, to pick up the phone. I know many contact centers produce these reports and distribute the information. But, how many actually take ownership of these issues.

What's the potential impact, both in real dollars and on the customer experience if customer service became the new corporate BPR consultants rather than the new marketing?

Run that CRM report, and I think you'll have your answer.

(oh, and read Bill Price's book The Best Service is No Service. He's the authority on this subject)

Twitter Follow Friday #9: Defending the Tribe

2010-08-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

So, I had my (most) weekly post ready to go on Friday; with recommendations for other folks with whom I've connected and think you should too. A series of events at the end of last week however gave me pause and made me put that on hold in favor of this.

This whole social media thing is based on a couple of simple themes in my opinion: trust, collaboration and mutual respect (not my themes, but ones others like @ThisIsSethsBlog and @ChrisBrogan have demonstrated that I buy into). 25 years in business and I've longed for the day when these principles permeate more of our business culture. Just like in any area however, there is bad behavior; shameless self-promotion, taking more than giving and thinking too short term and myopically. Misguided, some of it well-intentioned but still, misguided. Some of this bad behavior is a result of growing pains. I get that. We're all still trying to figure this thing out. @BrentLeary wrote a post about some of these learning curve missteps that we've probably all been guilty of at one time or another.

On the other hand though, there is behavior, whether on Twitter, other social sites, in business or in our personal lives, that just has no place and shouldn't be tolerated; whatever the justification, valid or otherwise that drove one to such a point. I had a front row seat to such a scenario last week. And, while I'm not going to throw fuel on any fires, nor do I seek to turn anyone's retribution on me, I want to use this forum to recognize a community of which I'm honored to be a part.

The #custserv hashtag community on Twitter has evolved as one of the most active. And the weekly Tuesday night gatherings to discuss various topics related to customer service have been collaborative, sharing and open to anyone with an interest in the subject, regardless of expertise, resume or credentials. Within this group, a core contingent of folks demonstrated this past week how to professionally defend your tribe against bad behavior. And for that, you should follow them all:

@JeffreyJKingman

@MarshaCollier

@RoyAtkinson

@TedCoine

@KnowledgeBishop

@RussLoL

@mommysbazaar

@action_jay

@ajbombers

@ty_sullivan

@JoeSorge

@Shelly_v3

Heck, follow the entire #custserv crew. Even if customer service isn't your thing, if you share the same values as I've tried to describe here, these folks are definitely your thing.

Are You a Hoarder?

2010-07-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Of data, that is. Data is everywhere. We're swimming in it; in some cases drowning. And, we've become really good as organizations at collecting it, to the point of hoarding. But, how much smarter has this data made us about our customers? How much closer have we become to, not only understanding our customers wants, needs and desires, but anticipating them?

Customer surveys, focus groups, point of sale, demographics, technographics, psychographics, CRM, SCRM, web analytics, "likes", social network analysis...the sources and types of data about customers, prospects and people in general is virtually unlimited. And the stream of technologies claiming to lay the golden egg is ever-growing.

The direct and opportunity costs of collecting and storing data have plummeted recently and continue to drive lower, towards zero in some cases. Heck, 10 years ago, a terabyte of data was futuristic cocktail conversation at IT conferences. Now you can get a terabyte of storage on a flash drive for a couple hundred bucks. And Toshiba is working on a 1Tb SSD the size of a postage stamp.

The last frontier, unstructured data, of which Gartner estimates makes up greater than 80% of enterprise data, is now no longer unaccessible either. So, throw all that in the mix and our data store ends up looking like this.

The unfortunate impact is that we have now become hooked on the 'data pipe'; addicted to collecting it. We're doing it as individuals too. We collect (sometimes hoard) followers, friends and contacts across social networks; confusing popularity and reach with influence and relationship to stroke our egos. Instead of focusing on better understanding, we have been lulled into a false sense of security and accomplishment through the very activity of data collection. The acquisition and mining of the data has become the objective, the compulsion. And, so we convince ourselves that we have a more intimate relationship with our customers. But, the data on customer satisfaction and loyalty shows that the emperor has not clothes.

I'm often left to wonder, then, how the best in class companies seem to anticipate and satisfy customer expectations so well. Is it a result of the analysis of all this data? Or, is it the fact that they simply hoard less and listen more?

I Can't Be Satisfied

2010-07-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I've been engaged in some really fascinating dialog this week with several colleagues whom I hold in high regard on the subject of the customer experience.

My mind first started stirring after reading Eric Jacques' latest blog post "Definition of Customer Satisfaction", where Eric proposed an interpretive application of the expression derived from the words Customer and Satisfaction.

Now, I've never been a huge Rolling Stones fan. But music being my life-long passion (see, you read this little diddy long enough, you'll find out all sorts of tidbits), I respect their accomplishments and have followed the band enough to know they sang more than once about satisfaction. And, the distinction Mick and the boys made between not getting any satisfaction and never being satisfied now seems oddly applicable to Eric's post and the ensuing logic string it kicked off in my head.

Upon reading Eric's post, my first thought was "ok, so now what?". A similar banter has been occurring for probably too long in social CRM circles around its definition as well. The most important aspect of defining customer satisfaction is how it manifests in our dealings as customers with providers of goods and services. How does your perception of whether your expectations of satisfaction were simply met or exceeded translate into action? If you are merely satisfied, do you continue to give that company your business? Do you walk? Do you recommend? Those are also the questions companies need you to answer too. Here's where I went off the rails; when Eric concluded his post with the question, as a company, "should customer satisfaction be your objective?". Here's why.

From a philosophical, intellectual point of view, sure, it's ok to claim that a company that simply meets your expectations, that satisfies you, is not good enough. But, after reading Matt Jury's comment:

"There's nothing satisfying about someone just meeting you're expectations. Unless you're always used to settling for less."

I'm left to wonder if maybe we customers have some culpability in creating the chasm with brands.

Actually, this discussion relates to two other recent posts from Tim Sanchez and Chris Reaburn, who linked the notion of predefined expectations with the perception of the service experience from Apple and Zappos.

The crux of the conundrum?

What purpose is served in any relationship of not being transparent and clearly articulating your expectations? However high they may be. In practice, I think this is actually destructive behavior. Think about how this approach would impact your other relationships? What if the folks that worked for you never knew what was expected? What if your kids felt that whatever they did was never good enough? Pretty corrosive, right?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about lagniappe. And, I'm a huge fan of @9inchmarketing and The Purple Goldfish Project. But, when the unexpected becomes the expectation, to the point where good is never good enough, I think we start down a slippery slope of destruction. Destruction of trust. Destruction of value.

If expectations are always a moving target and ever-increasing, if we force companies to play this continuous game of cat and mouse, how do companies and customers ever get to a higher place where co-creation of real value is possible? Transparency is not one of those one-way police interrogation mirrors. Customers have a responsibility too.

Twitter Follow Friday #8

2010-07-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Eight is enough? Not when you've got so many wonderful people with whom you've connected. I want to keep sharing mine with you. Hopefully, you're inspired to follow them too:

@rshevlin - Ron tattooed me right between the eyes a few weeks back with this fantastic blog post about the cost of customer acquisition vs retention. Then, I started to delve into his writings a bit more. Provocative, honest, "somewhat snarky" and in your face. Agree or disagree with this former Forrester analyst, who is now a principal at Aite Group, he will make you think differently about marketing; about lots of things.

@RLMadMan - Marjorie and I met for the first time last week on our weekly #custserv chat. The topic was "Is Customer Service the New Marketing". And what I found out was that Marjorie is one of the most 'enlightened' marketers I've ever met. Well, that's an opinion from my myopic view of the world. But, in all seriousness, it became clear that she gets the changing dynamics between marketing and customer service and the huge opportunities in a world without walls. She is a big brain in marketing.

Customers Rock! So do Ron and Marjorie!

Hey Ole' Buddy! Wazzup?

2010-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly astounded at the disparity of the human condition on this planet. When I log onto Twitter or get my daily RSS feed from a favorite blog and read about a newly discovered tribe of indigenous people living in the Amazon who have yet to discover fire, all while checking MLB.com for last night's scores and geo-locating the closest Starbucks on my iPhone, I am reminded that we're all not at the same place in our evolution.

[wow! That was quite the lofty set up for what comes next!]

Apparently, neither are sales organizations. On the one hand, we have companies that have embraced social networking, the concept of value creation, of giving something of yourself, exposing yourself prior to asking for a transaction and of full transparency.

On the other hand, there still exist sales people that think an email like this is somehow going to get their trinkets in front of me and I'm going to write a check for 100 of them:

Barry,

Since last month for our lunch date didn't work out, I wanted to see if we could get together next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Let me know

Thanks
[name withheld]

Huh? Did I miss something here? Ok, I'm getting older. Maybe I forgot I had a buddy that sold networking and web design services. Maybe we spoke last month about getting together for lunch and I completely spaced it. No! I'm not even checking my past emails. I know I'm not crazy. I have no idea who this clown is. But, apparently that's what he's hoping for. He's hoping I'm a complete idiot who will humbly apologize and, for being so inconsiderate, reciprocate with an immediate offer to meet next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Or, on the phone call I got this morning:

ring, ring

Me: Hello?

Sales Guy: Hey Barry. What's up?

[silence]

Me: Who is this?

Sales Guy: It's Bill. It's been a while. You have a second to talk about that VoIP project?

Me: Actually Bill, its been forever. Cuz you and I have never spoken. Cheers.

[click]

This is why I don't answer the phone unless I see your smiling Facebook avatar on my screen below the number. This morning, yes I admit it. I was caught off guard. Probably right after reading that email.

Who's the sales trainer that's teaching this garbage? And I wondering if he used the same techniques to sell his program to the organizations for whom these two gents above work. P.T. Barnum is laughing in his grave.

So, while so many of you are doing great work in mapping marketing's new role and engineering the optimal customer engagement models that will lead to long-term value co-creation, there are still many tribal sales people rubbing sticks together hoping for a spark.

Makes me ponder how they knew to use email or dial the phone.

What is Customer Service?

2010-07-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

I've never taken one of those Rorschach tests. You know the psychological test in which you're shown a series of inkblots and are supposed to say the first thing that comes to mind? These are supposed to evaluate your personality characteristics and emotional functioning (note to self: call psychologist and schedule one of those).

So, what's the first thing that popped into your head when you saw the title of this post? A cubical farm filled with folks wearing headsets? The "call center"? A feeling of panic at the thought of dialing an 800 number and being tossed into IVR jail with no escape except to hang up in frustration?

I'm guessing your immediate thoughts went to something along those lines. And that's tragic. Its a tragedy that so many organizations continue to be satisfied with letting this be how their customers view customer service.

We had a lively chat in our weekly #custserv gathering last night on Twitter. The topic was "Is Customer Service the New Marketing?" While I don't agree with that statement; and the reasons why are for another post. It became clear in that conversation, that the above visuals are where the vast majority of peoples' heads go when they think of customer service.

Customer service is not a department. Its not a function. Its not that one floor, non descript brick building rising up in the middle of an Idaho potato field.

I'm in customer service. I'm a technologist that works in a contact center. My number one objective is to serve my customers, both internal and external. Notice I didn't say "service my customers". My customers aren't cars coming into the dealer for a 30,000 mile check up. They are valuable partners in my business, that I do well to serve. In return, they provide value back.

In delivering our work, whether you're a marketer, a financial analyst, a package designer or night security guard, if we all thought more like Craig Newman, who's business card reads "Founder, CEO & Customer Service Representative - Craigslist", I think we'd all be better served.

Be Nimble. Be Social.

2010-06-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Jon Ferrara, the founder and CEO of Nimble. Jon is a true CRM pioneer, having started Goldmine back in the 1980's on little more than a vision and a passion for connecting people. In our conversation, it became clear, that passion still burns as bright as it did back then.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Jon and I to settle into what felt like a chat between a couple of old war vets reminiscing about past battles. It wasn't long before Brock Control Systems crept into the conversation. It was at that point, we both realized we'd both been in this whole CRM arena probably long enough to know better. (here's a bit of nostalgia on Brock) Now, I'm not sure why I'm still here. But, I now know Jon is here because there is still unfinished business. The business of actually seeing the vision of relationships as the driver of good business be realized. Ok, ditto for me on that point.

Relationships are the backbone of our existence. Humans are social animals. It's trite, but people do business with people they like and people the trust. So, for 25 years, since those days of Brock, CRM, as a technology and business process, has been trying to provide a platform to automate and scale one to one relationships. It really is that simple. Software companies have really made a mountain out of this mole hill; and have been selling us the same CRM tools over and over for the past two plus decades.

Jon believes he has finally cracked the code. In his words, he's built a "kick ass relationship contact tool". This is a solution who's time is potentially right on. It's possibly the perfect storm. The knowledge of relationships, the passion of a guy who's been through countless wars and the proliferation of social media technology that has answered the relationship scalability question.

This backdrop creates the ideal time for a software company to start with a blank white board and architect Social CRM into the core of its solution. So far (and I haven't seen them all yet), other solutions on which I've done due diligence are bolting social features onto their existing platform. Let's face it, you technical folks know how practical it is to rearchitect software. Siebel learned this lesson the hard way back int he 1990s when Janna Systems figured out that investment bankers manage contacts not accounts. Janna build its solution from the ground up with this understanding. Siebel couldn't change is architecture and got slaughtered in Financial Services. Then Siebel bought the competition for 50 times revenue! For the affable Tom Siebel, a small price to pay. Ah! those were the days, my friends.

So, while the devil is in the details, if I were hitching my wagon to a Social CRM software horse, Nimble would be on my short list. I plan to provide a deeper analysis after a road test and, to respect Jon's confidence, after the product goes GA.

In the mean time, follow Jon Ferrara on Twitter. Offer to connect with him and have a chat. You will be hard pressed to find another executive...forget that...another human being in this space with the genuine passion and transparency Jon Ferrara possesses.

Twitter Follow Friday #7

2010-06-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

Lucky 7! Place your bets on these exceptional Twitter folks and you can't lose.

@LindaIreland - Linda is the founder of Aveus, a global strategy and operations consulting firm. I value Linda's advice most notably because, when it comes to the customer experience, she understands the connection between it and bottom line profitability. There is a lot of noise lately about higher-level relationships goals as relates to the customer experience and social CRM. Profitability is not a dirty word and Linda is unashamed in her commitment to the connection between the two.

@BarryPeters - Besides having a great name, Barry is a colleague of mine and one of the most open and approachable people with whom I've ever worked. Barry has been one of my most valuable sounding boards on many ideas. He's an amazing collaborator who goes out of his way to help others connect, shares his network freely with no expectations and genuinely wants to see others succeed. World traveler, wine buff and all around enjoyable company.

Enjoy your weekend

Cheaper to keep a customer?

2010-06-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Not necessarily.

As part of our weekly #custserv Twitter chat last night (if you haven't checked it out, and you're itching for some great idea exchange on the topic, tune in to that hashtag Tuesday nights at 9pm ET), Marsha Collier, one of the hosts of the chat, pondered why companies continue to apparently spend more time, energy and money acquiring new customers versus retaining existing customers.

Well, it's because giving profitable customers a reason to continue doing business with you is really hard work. And when we don't do those difficult things well; like delivering a superior experience, listening to our customers, committing to action and exceeding expectations, we are marginalized in our customers' minds and the next transaction, if we're even given the opportunity, boils down to a discussion about price. And, with the knowledge your customer has gained about you, with the negotiating ammo you've provided him by not focusing on customer service, keeping that customer's business is going to cost you, dearly.

Take the following scenario:

You go to a trade show. You find out one of your competitor's best customers is looking for a new supplier. You meet. You dazzle him with the "grass is greener" pitch at a time when he still can't see the man behind the curtain (the dysfunction of your customer service). You negotiate a decent deal.

Fast forward, to contract renewal time. You've missed SLA's. Your technical support group has experienced a lot of turnover. Your customer has had to escalate many issues that should have been handled by front line customer service reps. Your invoicing is incorrect more often than it is correct. Then, you sit down to ask for that customer's continued business. What do you think its going to take to keep that business? Among other things, if you're even given the chance, is a price point a LOT lower than was in the original agreement and other concessions that will erode those margins your customer granted you in the first place.

Meanwhile, during the term of that contract, you're hottest sales people have been out there winning new customers, churning and burning, moving inventory and takin' names. You've rewarded those sales people for winning "new logos". And, within your sales and support organizations, you've handed over the management of your existing customers to your most junior account managers.

So, while conventional wisdom tells us, if done correctly, its 'cheaper' to keep a good profitable customer than go out and continually find new ones, its not easier.

And given the choice, most of us will choose easier.

Round and Round

2010-06-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

So, I admit it. I'm a product of the MTV age. How many hair bands did we have to see before they all blurred into one big Ratt's nest of mousse, gel, spandex and eyeliner?

Being of that age (not sure what official generation I fall into), I've been through what I'll define for argument's sake here as four major cycles in which companies have been attempting to get closer to their customers:

SFA
CRM
eCommerce
Social CRM

(Feel free to thrash those categories. But, that's not really the point)

Here's my point. Haven't we seen this social crm thing all before? I think we have. And, its not a bad thing. In fact, the place where I think we've gotten derailed at each one of these stages above is where we've tried to take the same goal, the same strategic objective, and call it something different.

Bob Thompson nailed it the other day in a comment to me on CustomerThink where he declared that social CRM is not a strategy. And, he's absolutely right. It's not a corporate strategy. As Bob noted, social CRM strategy is, at best, an implementation strategy of technology or business process; a "how to", not a "what to and why".

Each time over the past 20 plus years that we've relabeled the same objective, we've created opportunity, no doubt. Opportunity for whole new industries of consultants. But what's the common theme throughout? What is the actual strategic imperative that all of these initiatives have been striving to accomplish? Create a more customer-centric business. Focus on the customer. Improve financial returns by putting the customer at the center of all the company does.

So, how is that different today than it was 20 years ago? What goes around comes around.

Twitter Follow Friday #6

2010-06-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Number 6, and I'm no where near running out of great people to recommend. This week's theme (not that I've had a theme with any of these up to this point) is Geeks - These Folks Know Their Bit

@louisgray - I first saw Louis present at last years Blogworld in Vegas. It was fun being in a room full of fellow techies surrounded by all the more journalistic types at the event. In that talk, Louis laid out an elegant approach to managing one's on line social channels that could be applied to various size businesses as well as individuals. I was struck by how Louis had leveraged simple tools to make managing your on line social networks, work for you instead of consume you. This doesn't even scratch the surface. See what I mean

@andybeal - Andy is not exactly an unknown on twitter so you might already be aware. An,d ok, he's not exactly a super techie. Andy started as an on line marketing guy. And, now he's taken that expertise and applied it to his latest project - leveraging tools to monitor and manage your online reputation. Like Louis Gray, Andy's expertise is valuable whether you're a billion dollar brand or.....me. Be prepared to spend some time poking around his blog.

And now for something completely different.

@shitmydadsays - Well, if you follow this twitter persona, I need say no more. With 1.4 million followers, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.....and a t.v. show from a twitter persona? Nice.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Earn This

2010-06-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

The dying words of Captain John Miller to Private James Ryan that he carried with him the rest of his life.

In business relationships, when do we earn it? In this case, the "it" I'm referring to is the right to challenge. The right to push back. The right to expect that your customer or prospect owes you a quid pro quo.

How much value do you need to deliver in the sales process before it's your customer's turn to reciprocate? As a customer, I say it's my prerogative to decide when that happens. As a general rule, sellers need to take their queues and signals from their prospects.

Of course, with every rule there are a slew of exceptions. If a seller's Spidey sense tingles with the feeling that his prospects or customers are taking advantage or being unreasonably demanding, he's well within his right to back off or gracefully disengage.

But until you've built a trust, until you've earned the right in your prospects eyes, directly challenging him or expecting something from him in return for you doing what you're supposed to do to earn his business is really not going to get you anywhere.

So, if you're of the mindset that your date should automatically spend the night in return for that nice dinner, tell me up front. Sorry, I'm not your girl.

Which Comes First?

2010-06-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

This isn't some long, drawn out research-paper-posing-as-blog-post. I was just thinking about this on the way to work....for the past 6 months.

Which comes first? Social CRM technology, strategy or business process? I'm assuming some are going to read this and think it a stupid question at this point. "STRATEGY! You need a scrm strategy!" I can hear many of you yelling at your screen....you know who you are. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I've argued the same thing)

Ok, so why?

What was the impetus for this whole social media thing in first place? Was it a business strategy? A process map? Nope. Discussion groups, forums, chat rooms; then Twitter, Facebook and on and on. Technology, right? If it weren't for these social platforms, we wouldn't be having academic conversations about business strategy or enterprise operating models, would we?

The second coolest word of advice David Alston gave at our panel discussion at the most recent SOCAP conference (this was the first) was to not over complicate this whole social crm thing. To customer service people, the audience at this event, social media has been portrayed by many consultants and gurus (with a vested interest) as the three headed monster under the bed. We've been talking to customers over the phone for how long? Exactly! So, what's the difference? Sure, social platforms are more public. But, does the public nature of the channel automatically turn us into bumbling idiots that are going to trash our company's brands in 140 characters? Frank Eliason had a classic retort to an audience question about influencers and influencer analysis. He said (paraphrasing) I'm in customer service. I don't care how influential they are. I need to solve their problem. Do you ask who your customer knows before you answer their question on the phone?

So grab some tools, throw them in the back of the pick up truck and get started down the road. You're customers are waiting.

Twitter Follow Friday #5

2010-05-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

So, it's Friday again! Where did this crazy week go? I'm sitting here in Starbucks (paying for WiFi :( ) before I take off for a relaxing long weekend with the family. Before you head off to kick off your Summer, follow these folks on Twitter!

@CRMStrategies - Brian Vellmure is one of the first folks I found and began following on Twitter, in any category. I was drawn to Brian's blog because of the balance in his writing between academic analysis of CRM issues and their real world application. I then had the opportunity to meet Brian in person at Paul Greenberg's Social CRM Summit in Washington this past Winter. If you're a client in need of a CRM/SCRM consultant, Brian is one of the most unassuming I've every met. Never one who feels the need to demonstrate how smart he is. Smart and personable? Like peas and carrots.

thinkBIG_blog - Ken Peters was introduced to me by Ted Coine, one of my Twitter inspirations. Ken does think BIG. He's a heretic. For that, he lands on my list of all time favorite thinkers. Ken continues to bring a unique thinking to brand development and creative services. His tweets are always informative. But beyond being a valuable resource, he makes YOU think. Check out this recent tweet "Are so many people satisfied with mediocrity that striving for excellence now seems arrogant? I dont care. I'm still striving" And check out his website Nocturnal (for all you fellow insomniacs)

theMetz - Adam Metz: smart, creative, more energy than I've seen in a crazed English football stadium and just plain hillarious. Adam runs a social media consulting firm The Social Concept is his site. I also had the pleasure of meeting Adam at the Social CRM Summit. He blew me away with is creativity and insight. If your a brand looking to build consumer advocacy, Adam will take your brand under his wing and it will fly as a result!

I wish you all a safe and enjoyable weekend. If you would, take just a brief moment this weekend to stop and reflect on the men and women who sacrifice every day for our freedom. Happy Memorial Day.

Twitter Follow Friday #4

2010-05-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, this new gig at work is...a lot of work. But we're doing good work. As a result, two Fridays ago, I missed this post. And for this past Friday, I'm doing the Monday morning quarterback version of my folks to follow on Twitter. Late, but hopefully worth the wait. Here we go:

@ericjacques - Eric is a customer service guy. We used to have a saying in sales (yes I was a sales guy) about the credibility of people offering advice. That advice usually carried more weight if the one giving the advice had "carried a bag"; meaning had actually done the job, owned a quota, been responsible for delivering financial results. Eric is one of those people. Just check out how Eric describes his day job (on your way to reading his incredibly insightful blog) "I basically spend my days fixing customer interactions that have gone wrong". Talk about being in the trenches. Eric has real world practical knowledge and is a wonderful sharer and collaborator on Twitter.

@9InchMarketing - Stan Phelps is on a mission to bring awareness to the little things. He's putting a customer experience spin on the old 'stop and smell the roses' approach to life. He's writing a book about marketing lagniappe (lan-yap) called In Search of Your Purple Goldfish via...The Purple Goldfish Project. Marketing Lagniappe? Little extras in the customer experience that are unique, immediate and make a lasting impression. Check out the running list and submit your entries @ his Purple Goldfish site (The real reason I follow Stan? He taught me an awesome new word :)

@COMPCOMM - Complaint Community is providing a valuable public service in the name of improving customer service and the customer experience. For customers in the UK, Complaint Community provides a platform to bring together customers with issues and companies with whom they have the issue on a neutral field in hopes of resolving problems. The community is impartial and independent, while adding an 'arbitration' component in the form of advisors that guide customers on the validity of their complains and bring companies to the table to hash it out. They're like the United Nations of customer service! Check them out.

I wish you all a great week filled with prosperity. Follow these folks and your week will overflow with it.

Automatic Shouldn't Be Robotic

2010-05-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

We've all experienced them. And, done well, I happen to be a big fan. The automated inbound/outbound IVR. You know. The machine voice that interacts with you on the customer service line in lieu of a live agent.

They started out as the "Press 1 for Sales; 2 for service" application. And many still survive in this format. Then, they evolved to "Press or Say 1..." And, when these were the only alternatives, I wasn't such a fan. Not because of the technology per se, but because of how it was abused. Or more to the point, how I was abused while interacting with it. Hence the expression "IVR Jail". I could get in. But, there's no way Dr. Evil IVR programmer was letting me out. If they could keep me in the IVR until I disconnected in frustration, the company just saved about $20 in agent call handling costs. And in general, that was the ultimate motivation; to save the company money through call deflection.

But today, these technologies include speech recognition and sophisticated voice activated response that can create a real win-win. A positive experience for those preferring self service, like me. And a cost reduction for the company. How about that!

So, when I received an appointment reminder from my son's doctor yesterday via an outbound IVR, I couldn't understand how Robot from Lost In Space got my number and for what reason was he calling.

One thing I did know for sure was that my local hospital (area code 484) outsourced this to some third party IVR or contact center (the call came from area code 303).

So, I wonder. Who made the decision to automate this customer touch point? What were the decision criteria to outsource it? Was it a pure financial decision? Did anyone consider the impact on the customer experience?

My friend Chris Reaburn blogged recently about the customer invoice as a touch point by which there is opportunity to enhance the customer experience. Chris has some great ideas. What organizations need to do first, however, is do the basics right.

With outstanding examples of elegantly crafted voice response systems like Julie from Amtrak and Bank of America's smooth talking IVR gent, there are plenty of examples by which to model this channel.

Make a few calls and listen, Doc.

Flip Goes The Contact Center

2010-05-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

Are contact center outsourcers feeling the heat? If not, perhaps we all have our heads stuck in the break room freezer while the building is burning down around us. Because change is happening and it is going to continue to erode the core of the contact center business: agent-based contact handling. There is a whole lot of research currently published that points to this fact that we all know intuitively. Demand for phone-based customer service is on the decline. There are many drivers behind this shift. This quote from Gartner's Michael Moaz in his lastest Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers says a bunch about one of those drivers.

"A new generation of customers has a deep resistance to telephone-based customer service"

This fact is irrefutable. So in response, every contact center is, or should be working on addressing this shift in channel preference and integrating new capabilities. But, that alone, will not guide the contact center industry to sustainable future growth.

Now I know that every outsourcer worth salt has some portfolio of solutions beyond 'butts in seats'. Those solutions range from technology platforms like custom IVRs and auto dialers to analytics and contact center consulting services. But, at the end of the day, these services continue to play a supporting role to the leading role of contact handling operations. All you have to do to validate this assertion is look at the net margins contact centers generate. Despite the move to diversification, margins and revenue mix across the industry continue to reflect the fact that 'call floor' is still king.

How long is this business model sustainable? How long before the bottom falls out? Well, that's the challenge. Change is happening more subtly. And with current razor-thin net margins (publicly traded firms average in the 2-5% range), subtle change can easily tip these margins into negative territory.

What to do? What to do?

All ye heretics, join me in a group contact center headstand:

In the new world of the contact center, interaction handling will play a supporting role. What we're all really after is the data. The insight into the customer; her experience, preferences and needs. From this information, we can deliver technologies and analytic services that have a broader strategic value across the client enterprise.

If you're in the contact center business, you might be looking at this and saying: "We already do all that new model stuff". And, this is a true statement in many cases. The key question you need to ask is what strategic focus do these services have within my portfolio. Can these solutions stand on their own? Are clients lining up to pay you real money for delivering these solutions? Or, are they hanging out in pre-sales purgatory? Thrown in as a deal sweetener to get the seats.

Having had the experience, and at times frustration, of launching a consulting business within a software company, the key challenge is to build a portfolio that aligns with customer expectations, yet breaks the mold of customers' perceptions of you as a call center outsourcer. Only then, will client value perception align with client value realization in such a way to generate higher margin revenue for your business.

Higher value for clients, higher margins for the outsourcer. Everyone wins.

Twitter Follow Friday #3

2010-05-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

Back for more? Here's some more great Twitter rock stars (don't cringe...they really are!)

@customermgmtiq - Blake Landau is the twitter voice for this outstanding customer service community Customer Management IQ that delivers a tremendously diverse collection of content on best practices and thought leadership on all things customer service. And Blake is genuine, unpretentious and always willing to lend a hand, provide guidance and help connect fellow professionals

@KateNasser - The People Skills Coach. So, need I say more? Couldn't we all use a little refresher on our people skills. Yes, even you ravenous social networkers. Maybe even especially now, we need to never forget that nothing substitutes for personal, face to face conversation. Check out the first line of Kate's bio on her blog. Doesn't that just make you want to hang out with her? Absolutely!

@wimrampen - Here in the USA, we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that the local customer is the prototype by which all customers can be modeled. Not true. Wim is from The Netherlands and views his "passion about customers" through a completely different lens. It's important for all of us to take a peep at the world from a different perspective every once in a while. Wim is also a pioneer thought leader in the specific area of social crm and its strategic and operational impacts on customer relations.

...Is it still Friday? Whew! Just under the wire. Follow these folks and I'll see you next Friday.

Who's the face of your company?

2010-05-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

The answer is - Everyone. Every employee, every supplier, every contractor or business partner.

In a recent blog post Things To Tell People Who Give You Money, Chris Reaburn raised my eyebrow with this line:

"A bill is another customer touch point, but one with a unique opportunity to reinforce the value that the provider brings me on a monthly basis"

As an interaction touch point, I agree with Chris. An invoice is a communication channel of sorts through which value-added information can be delivered to enhance the customer experience. As example, he mentioned how some utilities are now reporting comparative consumption data vis-a-vis similar households in the neighborhood.

So, that got me thinking about all the touch points that impact the customer experience. And, not only value creation at each touch point, but image creation and customer equity enhancement. We traditionally focus on "front office" functions of sales, marketing and customer service as the responsible parties for customer interaction. Then I saw this:

This was on the desk of a lobby receptionist at a Fortune 500 headquarters. The cynic can view this in the same light as those motivational posters that line the contact center break room walls. They are empty words without a corresponding culture and organizational alignment. And, in reality, titles are free. Just do a quick search on LinkedIn for former dot com CEOs. So, I asked the owner of this title to describe what it meant to her.

Turns out she was given rein to create her own title and this is what she came up with. That comment told me all I needed to know about what's behind the words. This person truly believes and understands she has a tremendous responsibility with respect to the company's public image. And, the organization has empowered her in this capacity.

Companies have been talking about customer centricity for years. And, we've seen too many PowerPoint slides showing the customer as the center of the corporate ecosystem, with all functions focused on the customers' every need. The reality, in most cases, is far from those pictures.

Ask around your organization: "who is your customer?" Ask Finance, AP/AR, Manufacturing, Engineering, pick a department. See what kind of responses you get.

Twitter Follow Friday #2

2010-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

More great twitter folks and why I follow them.

You Should Too:

@KristinaEvey - The tag line of Kristina's consulting firm, Centric Strategies, says about all you need to know about her: "Focusing on the Customer". And, that she does. Kristina also writes extensively on leadership accountability and employee empowerment and its link to customer advocacy and profitability (a view she and I share and have jointly written about). Check out her blog.

@guy1067 - In my mind, Guy is a pioneer in the practical application of social media as a customer support channel. As the social media customer service manager at The Carphone Warehouse in The UK, Guy was blazing a trail, along with folks like @comcastcares here in the U.S. while most of us were still learning to crawl. Heck, @DrNatalie , while at Forrester, even wrote a case study on Guy and The Car Phone Warehouse.

@JohnFMoore - John, besides being a tremendous supporter of mine (for which I am very grateful), is an amazingly prolific blogger on many aspects of social media and social CRM. One of the first blogs I turn to every day, I always end up spend more time there just surfing and reading. Plus, he's from Boston. So, he's got that going for him. Here's John's blog.

Hope you check out these wonderful folks, follow them and stop back next week for more.

What Do You Say?

2010-04-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Remember when your mom used to say that to you as your prompt to say "Thank You"? Well, it was one of my mother's favorite lines. Maybe it just seemed like that because she had to say it so often. Ok, so I'm a little slow on the uptake. Take heed mom. It worked.

Anyway, as I reflect on my recent trip to the SOCAP (Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals) conference in Atlanta this week, this was my big take-away. Sure, there were plenty of learnings, many great people I had the pleasure of exchanging ideas with and loads of content. But this little nugget from David Alston, VP of Marketing at Radian6, was the winner in my view.

David was a panelist on social media in customer service that I had the privilege to moderate. Also on the panel were folks from Omaha Steaks, Mars Chocolate, Gallo Winery and The Coca Cola Company. The discussion was robust, as we covered a myriad topics from engagement guidelines and staff skills to organizing around social media and coordination between customer service, PR and Marketing.

In the course of the discussion, it dawned on me that the general concern in the room was focused on connecting with and finding solutions for social customers in need, whether those customers be angry and dissatisfied or simply reaching out for answers. But, David raised a point that has potentially been overlooked by customer service professionals. And I'm not so sure it didn't sail quietly by many in attendance this week.

Social media has provided companies, and in particular customer service, a unique opportunity to engage with happy, satisfied customers in a way never before available. So, unless you're company is so universally despised, I have to assume you have more than a few customers that like your company and its products and service. I'm not even talking about the advocates or raving fans, just those that generally dig what you do for them and are talking about it somewhere on the social web.

David's recommendation? Find them and say "Thank You".

In customer service, we have been programmed over time to be in constant problem solving mode; to turn those dissatisfied customers around through our skill and passion for the trade. So, it might just be a simple issue of opening our eyes more and spending time looking for and engaging with a few more happy customers. Social media gives us that opportunity.

Make engaging with those customers a priority within your social customer service engagement plan. You deserve it. Your happy customers deserve it. They'll thank you for it.

Twitter Follow Friday #1

2010-04-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

Since there are so many people that I gain value and learn from, I'm adopting this Follow Friday blog series from Tim Sanchez (@DeliverBliss), who in turn got the great idea from Chris Brogan. I'll try to keep it to a manageable list (won't promise a number).

I Highly Recommend You Follow:

@DeliverBliss - Tim and I connected by chance, like most on Twitter. And since then, I've been witness to someone who combines a unique insight into the customer experience with a direct communication style that is refreshing. Just check out his blog. As a business partner, Tim will challenge you and your ideas. And, you'll be smarter as a result.

@tedcoine - Ted is one of the most positive, inspirational business leaders I know. His writing at his blog Five Star Customer Service demonstrates that good will and thinking of others first really do lead to business and personal success. If you ever need a lift during the day, tweet Ted and he'll get you going.

@Reaburn - Chris knows service design and the customer experience. And, he has a keen comprehension that we all live in an experience economy. Just check out this latest from his blog Service Encounters Onstage. I have been humbled on several occasions from the intellect Chris has brought to comments on my blog.

@WriteTheCompany - If you want to laugh so hard you have an accident...all while gaining a rare look into the ways in which various customer service organizations respond to customer inquiries, follow him, on Twitter, on Facebook and on his blog!

More great people to follow next week!

The Ninja in a Parallel Universe

2010-04-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ted Coine has been kind enough to allow me a guest post, "The Ninja in a Parallel Universe" on his outstanding blog Five Star Customer Service. This is my follow up to his post here "The Ninja - Power of Expectations" Thank you kindly, Ted! Please visit and check out all the great content.

The Ultimate Question

2010-04-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Is this. Has anyone actually read this book? Or, engaged Fred Reichheld or Bain & Co.on a consulting engagement? Now clearly there are more than a few that have. The book is #7,260 on Amazon's sales ranking. Behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at #6,799. But still, not bad.

So why am I even raising the question when this topic has been pretty well exhausted? Its because there seems to still be an increasing number of customer service practitioners talking about NPS and staking a significant portion of their customer service time and resources on collecting it. At the same time, oversimplification of the concept is epidemic, creating a clouded view of the company's performance vis-a-vis the customer's perception. And, like I've experienced in responding to over 30 customer satisfaction surveys this year, I'm having a hard time finding anyone that knows how to create specific action from the information; beyond the quant jocks at behemoths like American Express, P&G and BearingPoint. Ok great! So, Mr Jones is a net promoter. Now what?

Sure, there's a one sentence definition. "Net Promoter is a management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm's customer relationships". But, come on. Mr. Reichheld didn't spend the rest of the 210 pages of the book waxing about migratory habits of Emperor Penguins (March of the Penquins - awesome movie! I'm a naturalist. Forgive me). There is some heavy stuff in here; serious statistical analysis. Not to mention, since originally published in the 2003 Harvard Business Review article, there has been much research that has poked gaping holes in the statistical validity of the theorem.

So why, 8 years later am I finding more and more organizations asking customers variations of the question. It seems every question on every one of those surveys I've answered is based on an eleven point scale. Not that those questions have anything to do with net promotion, but now that scale has taken on a life of its own and has been adopted for every conceivable type of question.

When it comes to the customer experience and loyalty, don't you really want to know how you connected with that individual customer, at that particular time, during that single interaction? Isn't that the point? Not, "hey can you go pitch us to your friends"; like we're running some sort of multi-level marketing program. (disclaimer: I believe in the power of word-of-mouth)

How about "Did we delight you and exceed your expectations today?" Think about the actionable information available from the answer to that question!

We need to take a cautionary lesson from Deep Thought, the super computer from The Hitchhiker's Guide who oversimplified the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything with his answer "42". Net Promoter Score is not the end all, be all key to understanding customer loyalty. As in Deep Thought's case, the ultimate question is often ultimately meaningless.

Venn Does Social CRM Become Business As Usual?

2010-04-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

When enterprise business functions stop staking ownership claims and start working in a coordinated fashion to execute on the social CRM strategy. I'm still witnessing too much conversation in the enterprise around this topic. In June 2009, Jeremiah Owyang proposed his now well-referenced "Hub and Spoke" model for organizing the enterprise for social media. The following is a thought starter at a more tactical level that explores the specific activities on which customer-facing functions should collaborate.

I first suggested social strategic planning guidelines in this post that actually seemed to garner some attention over at The Social Customer. Go figure. So, I thought I ought to explore some of the topics raised in greater detail. I started with the idea of the social ecosystem and proposed a framework for that. And gauging by the reaction, or lack there of, that concept apparently went over like a bit of the wind in church, if you know what I mean; except of course from my friend Tim Sanchez, who slaughtered it. In a good way, Tim. I mean in a good way. Your commentary was hugely appreciated.

So being a bit on the stubborn side, here I go again. Peeling back the ecosystem onion several layers exposes what I see as the internal coordination needed to enable an effective social crm business model. In fact, I'd suggest this model could be applied to any customer-centric business model, social or otherwise, regardless of channel.

The way I see it, the three key players that require intimate coordination in a well-oiled social crm machine are Digital Marketing, Public Relations and Customer Service.

This model may seem too simplistic for some here. But that's entirely the point. As disclaimer, I'm a customer service guy. So, my point of view is from that perspective. So from the conversations I hear on a daily basis, leaders of customer service are looking for that straight forward recipe book. While this model specifically calls out the activities where coordination between groups creates value, a critical point I have intentionally not addressed is the role of each function where no overlap exists. For example, as a stand-alone entity, customer service also needs to do what they do today: solve customer issues within multiple channels including social media.

All that being said, what I would suggest to fellow customer service folks is, in order to create value within your social crm business model, you'll need passionate, risk-seeking leadership that is willing to take this model and assert the customer service point of view. No Venn diagram will get you in or keep you in the game without that.

To quote Seth Godin's most recent post: "Heretical thoughts, delivered in a way that capture the attention of the minority--that's the path that works."

What would you suggest?

The Ninja - Power of Expectations

2010-04-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

The following is a guest post from Ted Coine. Ted is an author, speaker and CEO who is passionate about service delivery, culture and leadership. Ted writes about Five Star Customer Service on his blog at The Savvy Capitalist
You can also follow Ted on Twitter @tedcoine

Charge $599 or more for a hotel room and your guests are going to anticipate phenomenal service. You’re going to be hard-pressed to knock anyone’s socks off, because your customers are already expecting to be wowed.

But what about when you’re only charging $3.99 for an all-you-can-eat buffet? The expectation now is, “Service? You mean the staff doesn’t spit on you as you go through the line?” Lack of spitting in-of-itself becomes a plus.

It’s the undeniable Ninja-Power of Expectation. Like the stealthy Japanese martial-arts masters it’s named after, the Ninja-Power of Expectation will take your customers by surprise and render them helpless to resist you. …Although in this case, they won’t want to resist you, because you’re taking such good care of them.

The Ninja-Power of Expectation is one of the most immutable – and therefore most useful – tools in the arsenal of any but the most upscale firms.

The two preceding examples are from the real world; from two businesses situated only a few miles from one another in my hometown of Naples, Florida.

The first is the Ritz-Carlton, a perennial top-ten among resort destination properties in the United States. And it lives up to its reputation. In terms of service, location, and amenities, our Ritz really is “all that.”

The second example is the Naples branch of CiCi’s Pizza. The décor isn’t fancy in any way. The food isn’t exactly delicious, although the pizza is better than Domino’s, and the salad beats Olive Garden’s.

But if CiCi’s isn’t fancy and its food is far from mouth-watering, its service is shockingly terrific. Seriously. For example:

The manager introduces himself by name and welcomes each guest as they pass through the buffet line.

He engages your children in conversation as they pass in the aisles. He makes them feel so special they call him “my friend Paul.”

He comes by to check on you at your table.

His staff asks if they can make you any special orders. You say, “No, I was looking for mushroom, but I’ll take this pepperoni instead,” …and a few minutes later, they deliver three fresh-from-the-oven mushroom slices to your table anyway.

They all smile, and really seem to mean it.

The manager and some of his staff thank you on the way out, and invite you to come again.

This kind of service happens all the time at the Ritz. So what? At their prices, it’s only what we all expect.

But what about CiCi’s Pizza? The power of surprise, of expectations far exceeded, has customers eager to come back, friends in tow.

…And what about your business? Would you be able to tap into the Ninja-Power of Expectation? Would that have a positive result on your earnings?

Something to think about, isn’t it?

In Crisis: Customer Service as Compassion

2010-04-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

I had a post ready to publish today. But, after a conversation I had last night, I thought it more important to share this story with you. Forgive me in advance for my writing as this one is from the gut.

Assuming you didn't see my tweets yesterday and today, I shared some information about the aftermath from the rainstorms in New England this week. I grew up in Rhode Island and my family and many friends live there today. As I have been getting more information, the extend of the devastation and impact on peoples' lives is making my head spin and my heart break. I've followed, like we have all, the tragic events in New Orleans, Haiti and other locations around the world. But, I guess it's true that tragedy doesn't quite resonate until it happens to you.

This time, it did. My parents, after 50 plus years in the only home they ever owned, were forced out due to rising flood waters. The house can be saved, but they're lives, in the form of photos, mementos and the various collection of stuff, has suffered a mortal blow. I'm giving you this information just to set the stage to say "thank you" to the folks at Boston Market in Cranston.

As my family is trying to get our heads around what's next, my father just wanted some chicken for dinner. Hey, we're pretty simple folks. So, my sister went to pick it up for him, after carrying the burden of the past week and putting the family on her back as I am not local. She walked into the store only to be told they were completely sold out. At that, my sister finally broke down. Seeing her in distress, the manager of the store immediately went to work to find a solution. He did. He found the food and delivered the order as requested and refused to accept payment.

Maybe we spend too much time talking about technology, strategy, process, training, employee profiling and data as the tools to understanding customers and delivering a superior customer experience. Perhaps, we're missing the point. The burning desire to serve others; to provide an experience that connects with customers at a deep emotional level requires the service deliverer to give a part of themselves. Maybe the art of service can't be analyzed, taught or improved upon. Perhaps its just ingrained in some. Perhaps its in their DNA.

Mister, Can You Spare Some Change?

2010-03-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

Because change seems to be hard to come by; and it's just plain hard to do. Now, I appreciate that, for most of you reading this, change is actually quaint and a tad bit on the boring side. If you're anything like me (God help you), disruption is more your speed. But, for the larger segment of business leadership, change is a difficult thing to envision, much less execute.

I got to thinking about this recently as I've been listening to several companies that are a year or so into their navigation of social CRM as a business concept/philosophy/fill in the blank (I won't use strategy; as that is yet to come for many). As predicted, many of these companies started off with tactical activities and tools. And now, they are starting to think about higher level business considerations like strategy development and execution. The one missing theme in the discussion still is that of the organizational impact of this new business model: the people dimension of our trusty "people, process, technology" mantra.

Flashing back in history a bit, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Back in the heyday of ERP, what was one of the biggest drivers of failed initiatives (besides under-scoping the complexity of the technology development)? It was the cursory consideration given to change management. Sure, we had change control to manage technical requirements modifications. But, change management always seemed to be the sacrificial lamb. The first negotiating point offered up to reduce the scope and price tag of the engagement; if it made it onto the client proposal in the first place.

History repeated itself during the height of the CRM hype cycle. Technology led these initial projects. Then we got smart and learned that business process and strategy were critical to success. But, still identification and management of all the organizational and cultural upheaval of such initiatives typically took a secondary role in the project. I remember my colleagues in the change management practice were typically paraded out prominently during the sales cycle, but then not provided their due place in the project organization or work streams. And, the work products that were typically scoped were focused more around application UI training and tactical business process change.

Culture change is too often labeled as the 'soft' part of the work. While in reality, organizational and cultural change is directly responsible for the long term, sustainable business improvement of these projects. And, there are proven, quantifiable methods for driving sustainable change. I explored a simple model for change a while back called the E-C-R Model: Expectations, Capabilities and Rewards in a series of posts starting with this one. This model uses quantitative methods to align and measure these components of a business system to drive sustainable change.

Flash forward. To the credit of many, much thought leadership has been focused over the past ten years on customer centric business models. After the CRM technology craze leveled off, focus shifted appropriately from the company at the center of the universe to the customer as the bullseye around which each corporate function should revolve. And, we all had great pictures of what that should look like.

Now, while most organizations haven't even caught up to the vision of those diagrams, we' re throwing social CRM into the equation. Now, the customer is no longer at the center of the bullseye, with the company corralling and containing her. The customer has escaped the pen and is charging off in whatever direction she dare, challenging the company to keep up.

If there is ever a time when organizations need to put change management a wee bit higher on the priority list, I'd argue it's now.

Leggo My Legroom

2010-03-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Remember those Kellogg's commercials for Eggo frozen waffles? I'm no ad man, but I'm here to tell you. Those Kellogg's folks knew how to generate demand. The frozen waffle as coveted icon, revered by everyone in the house.

I feel like I'm stuck in a bad dream back in the 1970's, appearing in those commercials over and over. Me on one side of the tug of war and the airlines on the other. Now apparently, I've written more than a few times on the airline industry. Like this diddy about Mr Smith and Southwest. Or this about my hometown flyboys in Philiadelphia . I'm honestly not here to bash the airlines. I believe to my core that people in general want to do well at their jobs. But, when employees are pushed to the brink, their commitment to and ability to deliver service naturally suffers. It's human nature. It's dumb policies and business decisions that are at the root cause of the industry's ills.

So, just when I'm looking so hard to find the positives, my friend Christina Bentley shared with me this email she received that just made me hang my head and sigh. This actually relates directly to what I argued was at the root cause of the whole Kevin Smith nonsense.

Dear Elite Customer,

We’ll soon be offering a new option for customers during check-in and wanted to advise Elite members of our plans. On March 17, 2010, we will begin offering customers the choice to purchase seat assignments for unreserved, Economy Class seats that feature extra legroom.

As an Elite member, you will continue to have the same ability to pre-assign seats without paying additional fees, for yourself and any traveling companions in your reservation, including these seats offering extra legroom.

This new offer will allow customers to purchase extra legroom seats when checking in at continental.com or at an airport kiosk during the normal check-in period, beginning 24 hours prior to flight departure. The price of these seats will vary depending on a number of factors, including the length of the flight and market.

As one of our most valuable customers, we wanted to let you know of the change and thank you for choosing Continental. We will continue to ensure that your loyalty is rewarded as we launch new offers.

Learn more about Extra Legroom Seats

Sincerely,
Senior Vice President
Marketing Programs and Distribution

Clearly, the airlines are at a low point with respect to the customer experience. My head is spinning though trying to grasp how this is helping.

A quick scan of recent trends should make you a bit dizzy too.

That legroom used to be mine as part of the ride. Airlines put in more seats and took it away. Now they want me to pay to get it back.
Blankets and pillows used to be available. Then you were asked to pay for them. Now they are gone completely
I used to be able to check bags for free. Now I must pay and deal with added cabin tensions like Chris Reaburn experienced because everyone's carrying everything on the plane.
Food used to be a base feature. Now, your choices are restricted and you have to pay for it.
A new set of headphones used to be in the seat pocket on every flight. Now they cost five dollars (and aren't worth one)
Ok so now I'm starting to get WiFi on some flights, but I have to pay. (I paid an effective hourly rate of over $20 on my last 40 minute flight). But, I don't have enough room between me and the seat in front of me to even open my laptop to take advantage of it.
Pay toilets....they're coming! You know they're on someone's whiteboard.

Now, I absolutely appreciate the fact that airlines are a terrible business. All you have to do is consider the list of all star entrepreneurs that have dove in a failed. But, I can not for the life of me come up with another industry that continues to take away features of its base offering, feed those same features back as for-fee add-ons and erode the customer experience in the way the airlines continue.

Ok, so maybe the cable t.v. industry is another. And look at what consumers think about them.

Tree Frogs and the Social Ecosystem

2010-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, this post has nothing to do with tree frogs, biology or ecology. But, unlike Seth Godin, my brain only has a limited capacity for catchy, pun-filled blog titles. I hope you can forgive me for that one.

A while ago, I wrote a post on strategic considerations that the social enterprise needs to address before diving into tactical execution; like launching a Twitter account or Facebook page or making investments in social media monitoring and engagement technology.

Apparently, several issues within that post resonated with folks over at The Social Customer (i'm eternally grateful for their repost of that article). So, I figured I'd better explore a few of those topics in further detail. I'm a visual thinker and learner, so I'll start with what I referred to in that post as defining your enterprise social ecosystem. I'm putting this out there, not as any definitive or authoritative definition, but hopefully as a conversation starter where some of you that are a whole lot smarter than I can poke holes in these concepts and make them better.

Just for fun, Wikipedia defines an ecosystem as the "combined physical and biological components of an environment". My definition of the social ecosystem is the combined strategic, informational, human and technological components of a social business system. (opportunity #1 to poke holes)

A while ago, I had started to sketch out a point of view; a picture. But then I found this example from Dion Hinchcliffe over at ZDNet. Dion approached this question from an Enterprise 2.0 technology point of view. But what I found missing was the strategic, informational and human components of the ecosystem. And so I've attempted here to combine some of his ideas with those other elements. So, here goes (opportunity #2)

I'll bullet point the highlights.

Its pretty clear, and I think most experts agree, that the social components of the web (what we refer to as web 2.0) are an ever-expanding subset of the entire world wide web. so, I've captured that here.
I'm lumping ecommerce sites that have a significant social component to them, such as Amazon, eBags and Netflix, into the category of Public Social Networks and Communities. For the purpose here, I don't think it matters where they are placed between the two
This is an enterprise view of the world, So from that point of view, the ecosystem includes all value chain partners and customers. Would the picture be different from the customer's point of view?
Within the enterprise, there are several customer-centric 2.0 business processes that directly connect the enterprise and the rest of the ecosystem such as knowledge bases, traditional CRM and unified communications
The green arrows represent information flows between the enterprise and the other ecosystem constituents across multiple channels
Social CRM, I believe, is not just limited to the interaction between company and customer through the social web. This is in contrast to the recent definition provided by Dr. Harish Kodadia, someone for who's work I have tremendous respect. My opinion (because I don't have a definition of my own) is more aligned with Paul Greenberg's - "Social CRM is the company's response to the customer's control of the conversation". However, those conversations are not just happening on the social web. so, I've attempted to represent that by spanning "Social CRM" across all channels and customer-facing business processes
Also, Social CRM is a business philosophy and strategy, combined with business process and technology. Therefore, I've tried to represent that point here - that social crm cuts across customer communication and access channels and requires a radical shift in the construct of business models that connect the enterprise with partners and customers.
Where I differ from Mr. Greenberg is this. Paul states that social CRM is but a small part of the enterprise business architecture. I believe, as a business philosophy, it is broader and needs to be woven into the fabric of every corner of the business in order to produce results.

A final foot note on the term "social CRM". I don't like it. Never have. The CRM part, that is. I like the definition and what it represents as a business model. So, for purposes of general understanding, I'm going with it. But, since 1987 when I built my first SFA application and first heard the term, its always bothered me. Customer Relationship Management is a company-centric term that implies the company can somehow manage the relationships with its customers. And, the most troublesome part; it implies that customers actually want to have a relationship with companies. Sure, companies what relationships with their customers. But, again, this is company-centric and someone narcissistic, if you ask me. I believe customers want companies to provide products and services that satisfy specific needs. If that means better understanding of the customer on the company's part, then I'm all for that. But that doesn't require a 'relationship'. If I never had to speak to companies I dealt with, I'd be very happy. All that being said, that's a whole separate conversation....over a beer or two.

Ok, poke away. Or rip to shreds. Enjoy.

Thoughts from the 1St Global Contact Forum

2010-03-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last week, I attended, and was fortunate to speak at, the 1st Global Contact Forum, hosted by Instituto Mexicano de Teleservicos. The event drew a broad collection of contact center folks primarily from Mexico and Latin America. However, twenty one countries across 5 continents were officially represented among the participants.

So, after Delta Airlines lost my luggage on the leg from Atlanta to Philadelphia and left it out in the monsoon on Friday, I was able to salvage a few notes and scraps of paper from my bag. From that, along with my cloudy memory, here's what I think were my key (albeit, random) observations and takeaways (disclaimer: reading runny, smudged ink is not my core competency)

In talking with Rodolfo Salazar he confirmed my opinion that Mexican and Latin American contact center industry is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-1.5 years behind the US market in developing social CRM strategies and tactics for leveraging social media as an effective service and support channel.
In my talk on social CRM, I asked a question: "how many people have engaged a company for service via a social channel?" About 20% of the audience had. In response to the question " how many of your contact centers provide service and support through social channels?". To that, about 5% raised their hands.
In contrast, in a study that just came across my email this morning that surveyed US contact centers, 35% indicated they provide support via social channels. Does that seem high to you?
Interestingly, the focus of discussions, presentations and hallway chatter was on providing near-shore contact center alternatives for US-based companies. It got me wondering, if all these contact center BPOs are chasing the US market, who's providing in-country service to their local customers?
Speaking of near shore opportunities for US-based companies, every Spanish/English bi-lingual contact center ought to be developing a strategy for taking advantage of the labor arbitrage opportunities available through the Latin American market. Culture, language and proximity all make me wonder why more aren't jumping across the Rio Grande
Tod Famous from Cisco gave a thought-provoking presentation and demo on their social CRM platform. Many of the large enterprise vendors are developing and planning some initial release of such platforms this year, addressing challenges of workflow, multi-channel integration and unified communications. I'm wondering what the response will be from vendors such as Radian6, Visible Technologies and the other "pure play" monitoring platforms
IMT put up a bunch of video interviews on YouTube with conference speakers, including this one with yours truly This should give you a good overview of the conference topics and landscape of this exciting market. The full list is in the "related videos' list on this link.

As my preparation for this conference was the driver for me to start seriously researching the Latin American contact center market, I'd be interested to hear your perspective on the future.

Policy Killed The Video Star

2010-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

You started video rentals back in Eighty Five
Home movie business really starts to grow and thrive
I didn't care to get my tape, I had to drive.

Oh-a oh

Cook took the credit for originally.
Rewritten by garbage men and technology,
And now you understand the problems I can see.

Oh-a oh

Along came Netflix
Oh-a oh

What did you tell them?
Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.

Expansion came and broke my heart.
Oh-a-a-a oh

And now you tell me all these rules and policies.
Expecting that they'll please and resonate with me.
Not just new policies, but ever higher fees .
Oh-a oh

You were the first one.
Oh-a oh

Neflix'll be the last one.

Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.
Your policies are so bizarre, you can't rewind you've gone to far
Oh-a-aho oh,
Oh-a-aho oh

Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.

Your policies are so bizarre, you can't rewind you've gone to far.
Viacom came and broke my heart, I guess I'll play my DVR.

You were a video star.
You were a video star.
Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.
Policy killed the video star.

Policy killed the video star. (You were a video star.)

My lyrical tribute to Blockbuster's new Total Access policy changes. Zach Epstein has a great take on this here A summary of the new Total Access T&C.

Too much of a good thing

2010-03-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

The Olympic gold medal hockey game last week between Canada and the United States was among the most entertaining sporting events I've experienced in a very long time. In fact, the entire tournament was highly enjoyable. What made it such an amazing experience were the very things that are missing from the major professional sports leagues, with the exception of the NFL and PGA.

As a customer experience, the Olympic tournament excelled because it put the absolute best product in front of the fan every game. Every game meant something. And there there was a highly emotional connection between the fan and the experience.

Pro sports leagues, on the other hand, have largely lost that emotional connection with their fans that is at the root of any superior customer experience. Sure, there are meaningful games. And, fans are generally loyal to their team. But, business decisions over the past twenty years in baseball, basketball and hockey have focused less on connecting with fans and more on short-sighted profit motives. Product lines have been overextended and the quality of the product has been degraded through geographic over expansion, lengthening of the season and playoff systems where it seems every team makes the post season. New features like billion dollar stadiums, fancy food and luxury boxes simply distract from the fact that the core value proposition, the game, has been diluted. Now even the NCAA is contemplating devaluing its most valuable asset, its tournament, by expanding to 96 teams.

Compare this approach to that of Apple; a company that has an uncanny ability to connect at a visceral level with its customers, while offering an intentionally limited product portfolio.

It's an experience economy. People buy experiences. So, when your product is the experience, too much of a good thing is never a model for sustainable success.

(Photo: Multiplicity c/o Columbia Pictures Corp)

Hey Boss! Look at all the Stuff I'm Measuring!

2010-02-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

Calls offered by half hour
Calls answered by half hour
Abandons by half hour
Busies by half hour
Calls blocked by half hour
Average talk time by half hour
Average not-ready time by half hour
Average handle time by half hour
Service level by half hour
% of calls answered in 10-second increments by half hour
Average speed to answer or delay time by half hour
Call volumes to DNIS

STOP THE MADNESS!

Hey, I got jokes. At least I think I do. But this isn't one of them. This is an actual list of measures I saw recently on a contact center management dashboard. Oh, and this was not the complete list. There was more. But guess what wasn't there? Look at the list again. Not a single indicator of how the customer viewed the experience or how well customer service was doing actually reducing demand for service through the elimination of broken upstream process that drive unnecessary service contact volume.

The indexes above do have have value for workload and resource planning. You need to insure you have enough people in the seats to handle contacts or that, in turn, will impact the customer experience as well. But beyond that, they have no place on a customer service scorecard. Now in fairness, this company does survey its customers. It is attempting to measure first call resolution. And, it's even trying to understand how to extract value from New Promoter queries. But, none of these indicators appear on the contact center management dashboard. Nor, are they metrics to which management compensation is directly tied.

The other issue I have with this list? Its just too darn long. One of the first tenants of a performance management system is to develop a set of KPIs that you can actively manage and work towards improving. Too many numbers leads to diluted effort which usually means nothing (or very little) actually improves in the operation.

A better approach?

First, focus your management effort on the things customers actually care about. I've yet to see a statistical study that correlates a customer's willingness to recommend with AHT.

Second, for any organization, contact center or otherwise, there is opportunity to improve understanding of and implementation of a high functioning performance management system. The first step is to understand the difference between a Measure and a Metric

As you think through the design of a performance management scorecard, spend enough time considering whether each number is a metric that you can proactively manage to or simply an interesting fact.

Richard Snow from Ventana Research, in his recent blog post Have Service Level Stats Outlived their Sell-By Date? conducted a study of the most common metrics use in contact centers.

Why are metrics least relevant to the customer experience the most common? As Richard accurately concludes: because they're easy.

Don't do easy. Do what makes a difference.

A Tale of Two Surveys

2010-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

It was the best of stays, it was the worst of stays. Well ok, not the absolute worst. There was that motel on Sunset Boulevard back in 2003. And, no it wasn't an hourly hotel. I had my travel agent to thank for booking that one for a business trip. My business. Not THAT business.

More recently, I had the chance to experience two diametrically opposite lodging stays. Because, I'm not here to bash brands, I won't give up the name of the hotel where I stayed in Reston, VA for Paul Greenberg's Social CRM Summit (A gratuitous plug. If you missed it, get to it in Atlanta). The second was last week at the Sofitel in Beverly Hills.

Without going into the details of the stays, as that's not the point here, I'll just say the Virginia hotel was in a state of remodel where the entire lobby was gutted. I understand this happens. But without any advance notice and in the midst of a blizzard, there were no food and beverage services. And, the staff offered no alternative solutions for me and my family. The Sofitel, on the other hand, delivered an outstanding experience, from decor to the attentive staff that serviced my every need - all for $250 a night - a bargain in Beverly Hills.

When I received the email surveys from each property, I filled them both out completely. They were strikingly similar in content. So, I'm assuming perhaps they might even use the same survey firm. If you've been stopping by here occasionally, you might remember I'm on a mission to fill out every survey I receive this year to figure out exactly what companies do with the information.

The Virginia hotel? So far, I have no idea what they do with it. But I'm left to assume not much. Because, if I were the senior executive responsible for this brand, and such a poorly rated survey was submitted by a frequent guest, I would expect it to make it directly to my inbox for action.

After providing a glowing feedback, from Matthew Bernard, the Director of Guest Services at the Sofitel, I received a follow up letter the next day. While I'm guessing this might be a form letter, it included the following line:

"I have reviewed your comments and concerns, and I want to assure you that I take them very seriously."

He reviewed. He took action. That is all customers want to hear. Now, I didn't have any concerns; except for the fifteen dollar can of cashews from the mini bar. But, I didn't include that in the survey.

So, whats the point?

When you survey your customers, you set an expectation, several expectations. Your customers expect that you're listening. That you care. And that you actually might do something with the information that they took time out of their day to provide. They expect action. And most of all, customers expect communication. Even if the Virginia hotel does take action on my suggestions, how will I ever know? It's unlikely that I will every return to that property on my own. So, without any type of follow up telling me they heard me, how will they incent me to give them another shot?

So, if you don't intend to follow up and take action, don't bother with the survey. A survey delivered to a customer is an invitation to engage in dialog. If the customer answers, answer him back. There are plenty of people we meet in life that ask a question yet never stop to listen for the response. If I wanted a place to just complain for the sake of complaining, I could have done that right here.

"If you could say, with truth, to your own solitary heart, to-night, 'I have secured to myself the love and attachment, the gratitude or respect, of no human creature; I have won myself a tender place in no regard; I have done nothing good or serviceable to be remembered by!' your seventy-eight years would be seventy-eight heavy curses; would they not?" I would say, the hotel in Reston certainly did nothing good nor serviceable. Memorable? Yes. They didn't listen. And that's the unfortunate part.

(photo credit: The Eagles - Hotel California)

Silent Bob finds his voice

2010-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

I heard the story this morning on NPR (where I get a lot of ideas for this blog). And, by now you all have heard the story too. Kevin Smith, one of my all-time favorite directors, took Southwest Airlines to task on Twitter for its big person policy. I love Kevin for his irreverent story telling in Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy and many more but the cynical side of me couldn't help wondering if this self-proclaimed geek from Jersey is more marketing savvy than he leads on. For he just happens to have a new movie coming out soon, "Cop Out" with Bruce Willis. Just check out the live Google News and Twitter stream raging this morning.

But, that's not my angle here. On the surface, this seems like just another example of a company tripping over its own policy to the detriment of customer service and its public persona; and from Southwest, of all companies, a rock star in the customer service hall of fame. But, the issue runs deeper than that. The real issue rises from giant companies trying to do what's best for its customers, all of its customers; balancing the needs of the many with the needs of the individual.

Southwest, and other airlines, didn't just come up with this butt-too-big-to-fit-in-one-seat policy to stick it to fat people. Think about a time when you may have been on a plane, sitting next to a larger passenger, fighting for seat space, elbowing each other for arm rest control. The challenge with any company trying to service a very large, diverse customer base? To accommodate everyone individually. This is a higher level strategic customer service issue than appears on the surface also. Can you really service everyone equally? Or is that always going to end in disaster? An average full passenger plane carries a couple hundred people of varying sizes and reasons for flying.

In my opinion, the root cause of this issue in the first place? And my suggestion to all airlines. If you can't make money in this business without continually having to cram more and more seats into the same plane, then go do something else. At the end of the day, airlines brought this upon themselves. Big people flew 30 years ago. But, they, and the people around them, had a lot more room to spread their wings...and butts.

But, since I don't anticipate a reversal in that trend anytime soon, here's what's needed, as Kevin so eloquently stated (subtlety is not one of his strong points). He wants Southwest to at “least re-train your staff to be a lot more human & a lot less corporate when they pull a poor girl off the plane & shame her.”

I think Kevin may have a career in customer service, once he stops chasing this silly movie making pipe dream and gets a real job. Unless, he decides to go over to the dark side of marketing.

Hey Marketing...Take a Listen

2010-02-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Listen first. This is the key to successful social media engagement for the enterprise. No argument here. It makes perfect sense. How can you deliver the personalized, delightful experience your customer desires, if you don't first listen for understanding?

I'm just curious why it took the proliferation of social media to give this concept validity. Marketers have had at their disposal the voice of the customer for, well, as long as there has been a customer with a voice. Sure, marketers have conducted focus groups. Surveyed. Segmented. Surveyed some more. From the customer's point of view however, all that information seems to have historically fallen on deaf ears. She still feels like she is being shouted at; being told that the company knows best what products she needs. But, in fairness to marketers, how much can you really learn from assembling a focus group a few times a year consisting of customers that you think may fit the demographic profile you're after?

So, along comes the social web where customers and prospects and even non-customers are in a continuous conversation about your company and your brands; their wants, needs and desires. What a wealth of information! So, it was decided that the best approach to harnessing this treasure trove was to first shut up and listen.

But what if your customers aren't there?

Remember Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz? If your a budding old codger like me, of course you do. Dorothy's problem was she was always looking for greener pastures, somewhere over the rainbow, perhaps in the social web. When, in fact, all she ever needed and wanted was right there under her nose the whole time.

If your a marketer feeling like Dorothy, ask someone at your next product strategy meeting where one of your company's contact centers is located. Take a trip there. Sit down in a cubical, put on a head set and take a listen.

You've had a perpetual focus group right here at home all the time.

More Than Lip Service

2010-02-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

Chickens don't have lips, we all know that (at least I think that's so). But walk into any Chick-fil-a restaurant and you'll quickly realize these chickens aren't just flapping their gums when it comes to the customer experience.

Chick-fil-a has set the bar for customer experience that transcends its fast food category. I have two small kids. And, my wife and I vowed before the first that they would never eat fast food. If you read my last post, you'll know I'm kind of a health freak. So, I don't touch the stuff. And we wanted to set that example for our kids. Well, needless to say, that lofty goal has since gone out the window. But, if it wasn't for these crazy cows, our kids might still be fast-food free. Because, this is the only such place we'll take them.

Beside the menu selection that is well balanced between the fried stuff and healthier alternatives, the company focuses on delivering a consistently enjoyable family-friendly experience time after time. Here's a few examples:

Every store I've been in has been by far the cleanest such joint in all aspects (yes, I even checked out all the bathrooms)
"My Pleasure" - the two most powerful words in customer service. Every employee uses them, often and with sincerity.
If you eat in the restaurant, they bring your food to your table!
A focus on the community. My local store has a calendar of family events that add to the family vibe. Just check out the website to see the importance of the community at the corporate level
A corporate commitment to childhood education
Managers come by my table to ask how things are going more often than at a lot of higher-end places I've eaten
And not that I'm religious, but its kind of refreshing in a throw back kind of way that every store is closed on Sundays

None of this comes cheaply, however. If you've been to a Chick-fil-a, you know their prices are on the high end of the scale for fast food. While you won't find any Dollar Menu or Five Dollar whatever, I assume the company has made a strategic choice to differentiate itself on the experience; recognizing that there is a consumer segment, even in fast food, that will pay for that experience. Count me as one of them.

Hard Bodies in Customer Service

2010-01-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

I was ecstatic to see a recent post on the Radian6 blog about their relationship with Beachbody.com. Why? In short, I'm a big fan of both companies. (note to FTC, FCC, CIA, FBI - neither company is sponsoring this post). In my opinion, that post gives a good perspective on why Beachbody is one of the more successful direct marketing and sales companies. The vision of the company's CEO Carl Daikeler has led the company to fully embrace the spirit of social media, where other direct marketers may be struggling a bit to make the transition.

That got me thinking about my experiences as a Beachbody customer. Yes, I admit it. I'm a Tony Horton disciple. I took the plunge last March and ordered P90X from one of their ubiquitous t.v. infomercials. I was skeptical. But, ten months later and thirty pounds lighter, I AM in the best shape of my life. (Of course that's all relative. And, no, I'm not showing you my before and after pictures). P90X absolutely lives up to its claims, contrary to many other goofy home fitness products. Here are some of my favorites:

6 Second Abs
Ab Energizer
Red
The Bean

To my point about customer service, Beachbody does somethings exceptionally well. And, I also think there is one relic from their roots in direct marketing that may need to be retired along side those Charles Atlas comic book ads. Let's take a look.

The Good Stuff

Community: long before social media was all the buzz, Beachbody had a keen understanding of the role of community in long term weight loss and fitness success. So, they have leveraged message boards, chat rooms and forums to build a strong on-line customer network. The financial benefit? More people stay engaged longer. And as a result, at least in my case, continue to buy more products.
"No-hassle Returns" really means no hassle. I've returned two products, not because I was dissatisfied, just because each didn't quite fit my needs. Each time, the process went off without a hitch.
The ancillary products such as fitness bands, pull up bars and the dietary supplements are all among the highest quality I've found anywhere. This is not add-on crap at overinflated prices.

My One Complaint

While I understand Beachbody is a direct sales company, they really need to back off on the endless up sell/cross sell attempts during the on-line check out process. Each time I've ordered something from the website, I have been blasted with no less than 5 up sell offers before I was allowed to proceed to the check out page. This was such an annoyance that I dumped out of the ordering process three times during my first transaction. The only reason I went back was because I kept hearing great stories about friends' results from P90X.

So here's the deal Beachbody (lets see how well they're listening with Radian6). I love your products. I love your company. Relax. You had me at "Bring It!"

So employee satisfaction doesn't matter?

2010-01-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

Once again, inspiration for a blog post came from an unusual place. This time, it came to me from two tweets I read from Chris Reaburn during a recent sleepless night. Chris posted two articles from Glassdoor.com. One about the best places to work according to employee votes. The second, was a list of the companies rated lowest by employees.

These articles got me reflecting on a subject about which I'm insanely passionate; that of employee empowerment and satisfaction. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know we've connected the dots a few times between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. That link, in my mind, is indisputable. Some think the impact of employee satisfaction is too squishy and hard to measure. So, while not a statistical analysis, lets take a look at some of the companies on both lists and see if employee satisfaction makes a difference to the things finance types care about.

The Bad                               Return on Equity
#2 United Airlines                  (2,743.85)
#3 Spherion                              (27.18)
#9 Hertz                                     (54.98)

The Best                              Return on Equity
#1 Southwest Airlines        2.97
#12 Kraft Foods                          7.93
#15 NetApp                            17.45
#45 Best Buy                             21.67

One big thing popped out at me in building this list. If Southwest Airlines and Best Buy can generate these types of returns, in the year of the 'Great Recession' and in an industry that I wouldn't wish on my worst unfriend, how do companies like Radio Shack and Kmart fail to deliver? Maybe their leadership needs to ask its rank and file.

Oh, and if you still think employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and financial performance are unrelated, check out this list of top companies in customer service. You'll see many of the same companies from the Best list according to employees.

So Rewarding

2010-01-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

This is the final installment in a series of posts exploring the E-C-R model for performance management in in contact center. If you missed the prior posts, you can find them here: one two & three

There has been no shortage of press coverage over the past year, and most intensely these past two months, about executive compensation. Even before the AIG, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch bonus hubbub, terms such as 'performance pay' and "retention bonus" have become standard in the compensation vernacular.

As I outlined in the first three posts in this series, any effective performance management system that enables sustainable change requires a complete alignment across expectations, capabilities and rewards. While we can debate the ethical, moral and logical merits of some of these topical compensation practices, when an organization particularly in our case, a customer service organization is embarking on a performance management system to drive continuous improvement, the rewards system is the most critical lever. Typically, this is the most difficult aspect of the model to change because it involves many functional aspects of the organization and investment in real dollars.

The old adage in business is you manage what you measure. The flip side to that is that people will chose the to do the work for which they are directly compensated over the work for which they are "measured", if they identify a misalignment of the two. Certainly this disconnect appears more often in functions where performance-based compensation is standard. But, recognition manifests itself in more ways than just monetary compensation. Perhaps some of these examples are evident in your organization.

Recruiting messages focused on employee satisfaction, yet history of subjective promotions
Marketing customer intimacy, yet sales commission plans focused on new logos
Customer loyalty expectation in the contact center, yet AHT still predominates the scorecard
Drive for IT innovation, yet no white space time allowed for skunk work projects

So, as you take a closer look at your organization, what messages are you sending? Are those messages consistent with how you are rewarding your people? Is the current collective behavior of your organization driving you towards your goals? If the answer is "no" to any of these, time for a visit to the local performance management chiropractor for a little realignment.

I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed exploring this topic. There is certainly a much deeper level of understanding needed to implement the E-C-R framework. But, the purpose of this series was not to provide a project plan. It was to introduce the framework and, hopefully, get some thinking going about areas of misalignment in your organization that are hindering performance improvement.

The Simple Truth

2010-01-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

What is this? Click over to The Savvy Capitalist
Art work inspired by Robin Dickinson @ Radsmarts

Everyone's capable. But of what?

2010-01-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

This is the third installment in a four part series of posts where we'll explore a simple performance management model for customer service called E-C-R: Expectations, Capabilities & Rewards. Parts one and two are here.

In the context of our model, capabilities are simply the tools, tactics and skills required to achieve a particular strategic objective; thus meeting or exceeding a specific expectation (E).

Organizations, collectively, possess a portfolio of capabilities: design, production, creativity, global reach, technology, cash management....you get the idea. The challenge in driving sustainable performance improvement within the orgnization, though, is to find or develop a collective set of capabilities that, when applied towards an objective, accomplish it.

Take a topical example, one that many customer service organizations are facing right now; social media in the contact center. Suppose our strategic objective is to "be everywhere our customers want to be" (forgive me Visa). This could translate on our strategy map to "providing service and support across the multiple channels through which our customers wish to engage".

If the organization has traditionally provided service through phone and email channels, it has acquired or developed a particular set of capabilities including CSR skills, telephony infrastructure and even specific physical structures in which to house the contact center.

When we now need to engage with customers through this completely new, still evolving channel, many organizations are finding that those current capabilities are not sufficient to continue to exceed their stated expectations (KPIs) for service delivery. I've witnessed several organizations over the past year attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole, especially in the area of agent skills. These companies are finding that a rep very skilled at phone-based communication, is often not at all prepared to tweet, moderate an on line community or comment on a blog post.

As my organization embarked on this journey last year, we invested time in first defining the needed skills, creating new job descriptions and roles and then applying Forrester's social technographics ladder to build a profile of our current capabilities against those skills which we identified as necessary for communication in a Social CRM environment. The gap analysis that resulted allowed us to then build a linear plan for acquiring the missing capabilities.

So, when you find your organization suddenly struggling to maintain expected levels of performance, take a step back and inventory what has potentially changed within the context of those expectations. On the surface, the expectation may seem consistent, but through continuous review, you may discover the environment within which your organization is now trying to achieve its goals may have shifted.

Continuous improvement requires continually reshaping and often breaking the mold.

Want to Improve Customer Service? Your Staff Wants to Help - Really.

2010-01-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

Guest Post by Kristina Evey, www.KristinaEvey.com

Have you ever been in the situation where you know you have been able to do something, have wanted to be able to do it, but there were some “Rules” that prevented you form doing it? This is how your staff often feels when dealing with customer issues and complaints. I often find that staff are more than willing to take care of customer issues or complaints, but become frustrated because they need “management approval.”

Consider the following scenario - I was in a craft store recently to make a return on a $5.00 item. I waited in line for 10 minutes while the cashier was simultaneously helping the customers in her line, training a new cashier next to her, and was on the phone with another store trying to locate an item.

Once I was being waited on, I commented to her that it appeared she was wearing many hats. She just smiled and said that it was better to be busy than bored. Once my return was entered into the computer, she had to page the manager on the overhead speaker. I then asked what would happen if the manager was in a meeting or on the phone. She replied that her hands were tied. She then said something very powerful -
“I just wish they would let me process returns up to $50.00. All the manager is going to do is just turn a key in my computer. He doesn’t even ask any questions about the transactions. That way, I could help you myself faster and not have to make you wait. If there is a problem, then I could get help from him.”

Another scenario - A medical office billing specialist was frustrated because she would occasionally have a patient who was being billed for a copay that they were insisting they had paid in cash, but were unable to locate the receipt. The “policy” in the office was to pull the chart, review the situation with the physician, then have the physician make the determination as to what to do, the office manager would need to sign off on the decision, then the patient would be contacted with the resolution. Sometimes, although rarely, the patient would be discharged because the physician felt there was a breach of trust. This entire process would take between 3 hours or 3 days, depending upon workload.

The biller recognized that this issue was a rarity. She also knew that it hardly ever happened more than once with the same patient. She knew that there were a few instances where the patient was facing financial hardship and wanted to get them on a payment plan. But, most importantly, since she was the billing specialist, she wanted to be empowered to resolve this type of situation on her own with some guidelines attached.

Once the billing specialist was given the opportunity, she came up with the following guidelines - When a patient called in because they were being billed for a copay they claimed to have paid in cash, she would write it off up to $50. She would then make a note in her system. Should the same patient call in again with the same situation, she would know that there was something to address. At that time, she would speak to the physician and the office manager and make her assessment if there was a trust issue or if it could be a case of financial hardship. That collaboration would then determine if the patient would be discharged or put on a payment plan.
Once these guidelines were put into place, the billing specialist was able to handle the issue on her own within 15 minutes of the patient call. She felt a higher level of trust from the physician and the office manager and took more ownership in her responsibilities. She was also able to work with the few patients who were in financial hardship and put them on payment plans. Because she was able to make that recommendation, the financial relationship stayed strong between herself and the patient, while the physician was able to focus on the therapeutic relationship.

The point of both of these scenarios is simply this - The staff had the desire, willingness, and capabilities of handling the issues in the best interest of the customer and the company. They also had the idea of exactly how to do it.

When staff are empowered, the entrepreneurial spirit is awakened within them and they will feel pride and ownership in their responsibilities. They will make responsible decisions to the best of their abilities. While some decisions may not always be the best decision, it provides a wonderful learning and training opportunity. When staff feel that you trust them by allowing them to handle issues, they will then begin to make their decisions as if they owned the company.

Should you find that you have a staff member is not making the best decisions on a repetitive basis, you then either have a training issue or have made an inappropriate hiring decision. There are necessary steps to be taken quickly in these cases in order to best serve your customers.

For more information and ideas on how to focus on your customers, I invite you to visit www.KristinaEvey.com. You’ll find articles, products, and a membership site all designed to assist your organization to become more customer centric. Please also request your copy of 50 Free Customer Service Tips Made Simple and sign up for my free monthly newsletter.

If the customer wants vanilla, give them vanilla

2010-01-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

Tucked in a corner of the Parker's Maple Barn gift shop, which is hidden in a quaint town in Southern New Hampshire, is a sign that says it all..."If the customer wants vanilla, give them vanilla." What at first glance appeared like a mere wall decoration, I came to learn it says a lot about this place.

After first hearing of this place from my friend Michael Ensley over a year ago, I finally got the opportunity to make the trek to get me some fresh maple syrup. The sojourn quickly turned into one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in a long time. I had never been to Parker's but had been to a couple of other maple syrup destinations. Similar to the experience Terry Starbucker recently had in a small produce shop in Paris, from the decor to the owner's down home Yankee hospitality, everything I observed in the shop made it clear that the sign on the wall was not just decoration, it was a business philosophy.

So, if you find yourself in the neighborhood of Parker's Maple Barn in Mason, NH, make it a priority to stop in. When you park, put your name in with the restaurant. Grab a maple donut and a little hot chocolate on your way up to the manufacturing barn and take the tour. Do the whole thing, eat up this experience.

Why? Because the slogan on the wall at Parker's Maple Barn captures what is sometimes lost in the all the noise of our experience economy. The latest flash, glitz and glitter are not always what's needed to deliver a superior customer experience. If you know what your customer wants, and you give him exactly that, no more, no less; mission accomplished.

Who's expectations are they anyway?

2010-01-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is the second installment in a four part series of posts where we'll explore a simple performance management model for customer service called E-C-R: Expectations, Capabilities & Rewards. The introductory post is here.

The first step in any performance management model is to develop the metrics that accurately reflect your strategic objectives. I'm not really going out on a limb with that one, right? So, why then, when we get to KPI development in customer service, does that goal seem to get lost in the woods? As my friend Chris Reaburn commented about the introductory post in this series "companies with the right service metrics refuse to align them with performance goals because of operational efficiency demands". Therein lies the challenge. How do we break out of the production, manufacturing floor mentality in in customer service and actually hold customer service leaders accountable to the metrics we all claim to be the most critical? Those that create exceptional customer experiences.

And where do companies turn to identify the right expectations in order to build those customer-centric KPIs? Shouldn't it be our customers? We already spend countless hours conducting surveys, recording interactions, analyzing call reason codes and other sorts of "voice of the customer" stuff. So, what better use of this data then as the foundation for your corporate performance management dashboard? If customer loyalty is your goal and your dash

In our web 2.0 world, nobody can claim that the information is too hard to access. Heck, lets assume you have no idea where to find your customers. The web is full of brilliant free insights that can point you in the right direction. Just open a Twitter account and take a listen.

Develop the customer-driven metrics, then hold everyone in the organization accountable. Pretty basic, right?

Lastly, while this series are not intended to provide a tactical method for execution, if you're looking for the cookbook approach to expectation setting, I'll leave you with one reference that should point you in the right direction. One of the brightest thinkers I know in the area of strategy management, Michael Ensley, has focused his work on developing customer-centric alignment through the process of strategy mapping. Here's the strategy map for his consulting business. If you start the process defining the foundations of your strategy with goals like build customer loyalty and deliver exceptional customer experiences and come out the other end with operational KPIs like AHT, calls per hour and cost per call, you might want to go back to the drawing board.

Next: Everyone's capable, but not of everything

Relationship Fracturing Process

2010-01-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

I haven't spent any time here on business to business relationships. But, this is a topic that came to a head over the past two weeks.

As a consultant and technologist, I've responded to countless Requests for Proposal over the years. And, I've even written a few. The process of writing, issuing and responding to RFPs, at least in my narrow universe, has become an absolute and utter value destroying waste of time for everyone involved.

In Darwinian terms, here's my view of the evolution of the species over the past 30 years or so

1980s - RFPs were written by business owners. In my world, this typically meant a collaboration between senior technologists, architects and business process owners. In this process, detailed strategy, business, functional and technical requirements were gathered and documented. This was the basis for attempting to clearly articulate what was needed, so the potential partner could respond in kind.

1990s - A cottage industry emerged, consulting and coaching business and technology customers how to game the system and turn the vendor's sales tactics back on them. Business figured out that the RFP process was a great vehicle for gathering free advise and intellectual capital to either a) go off and do the project alone or b) provided the information to the existing vendor to improve the potential success of the project

2000s - Procurement, in many cases, has assumed control of the vendor management and RFP process. Detailed requirements? No time for those any more. How much is learned about a potential vendor solution by creating a laundry list and asking the question: "Does your solution do X: Yes/No"? With the aid of technology, many RFPs are now managed blindly in an on line environment with The Wizard of Oz behind the curtain pulling the puppet strings of the vendors. The RFP is now a metric by which procurement can check the box saying they got proposals from three vendors.

As it has evolved into its current form, what does the RFP process do well? It does a fantastic job at creating adversaries before the relationship even gets off the ground.

Value destroying. Relationship damaging. Yet we continue to crank them out. And continue to respond. Why?